SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


BY 

FREDERIC   C.  HOWE,  LL.D. 

AUTHOR  OP  "THE  CITY:  THE  HOPE  OF  DEMOCRACY,"  "THE  BRITISH  CITY: 
BEGINNINGS  OF  DEMOCRACY,"  "PRIVILEGE  AND  DEMOCRACY  IN 
AMERICA,"  "EUROPEAN  CITIES  AT  WORK,"  ETC. 


NEW-  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
1915 


COPTRIGHT,    1915,    BY 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S   SONS 


Published  September,  1915 


PREFACE 

MUCH  of  the  material  for  this  book  was  ready 
for  publication  in  the  fall  of  1914.  It  is  the  product 
of  rather  intimate  knowledge  of  German  life  during 
the  past  quarter  of  a  century.  When  the  war  broke 
out  the  manuscript  was  laid  aside  to  await  its  ter- 
mination, but  as  the  contest  wore  on  and  the  ex- 
traordinary resources  of  Germany  were  disclosed,  it 
seemed  to  me  the  book  should  be  published,  partly 
as  an  explanation  of  the  efficiency  of  Germany,  but 
primarily  as  a  suggestion  of  a  new  kind  of  social 
statesmanship  which  our  own  as  well  as  other  coun- 
tries must  take  into  consideration  if  they  are  to  be 
prepared  to  meet  the  Germany  whiofe  -in  victory  or 
defeat,  emerges  from  the  war.  For  the  "German 
peril"  is  only  in  part  a  military  peril.  It  is  a  peace 
peril  as  well.  The  real  peril  to  the  other  powers  of 
Western  civilization  lies  in  the  fact  that  Germany  is 
more  intelligently  organized  than  is  the  rest  of  the 
world.  The  individual  German  receives  more  from 
society.  He  is  better  protected  in  his  daily  life. 
The  gains  of  civilization  are  more  widely  distributed 
than  they  are  with  us.  His  dignity  and  his  per- 


vi  PREFACE 

sonal  liberty  are  on  a  different,  and  from  our  point 
of  view  on  a  lower,  plane  than  in  America  and  Great 
Britain,  but  his  daily  and  his  hourly  needs,  and  those 
of  his  wife  and  family,  are  better  cared  for.  And 
the  individual  man  is  more  efficient.  He  is  better 
prepared  for  his  work.  He  enjoys  a  wholesome  lei- 
sure life.  He  is  assured  protection  from  la  misere 
in  old  age.  The  workhouse  does  not  await  him  if 
he  falls  by  the  wayside. 

It  is  my  belief  that  Germany  had  just  reached  the 
beginning  of  her  greatest  achievements.  Had  not 
the  war  intervened,  the  next  generation  would  have 
seen  her  competitors  in  industry,  trade,  and  com- 
merce outdistanced  at  an  accelerated  speed  that 
would  have  soon  left  them  far  and  possibly  perma- 
nently in  the  rear. 

If  this  is  to  be  averted,  new  ideas  of  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  state  must  animate  our  legislators. 
There  must  be  an  abandonment  of  the  old  concep- 
tion that  the  only  business  of  organized  society  is 
to  protect  the  individual  from  domestic  and  foreign 
aggression.  There  must  be  a  wide  extension  of  pub- 
lic ownership,  a  greater  control  of  the  aggressions  of 
privilege  and  property,  a  big  programme  of  social 
legislation,  a  change  in  our  system  of  education,  and 
the  exclusion  of  privileged  and  business  interests 
from  the  long  ascendancy  which  they  have  enjoyed 


PREFACE  vii 

in  our  political  life.  It  required  the  war  to  make 
this  clear  to  Great  Britain.  It  should  shake  us  from 
our  complacency  as  well. 

I  desire  to  acknowledge  the  invaluable  aid  re- 
ceived in  the  preparation  of  this  volume  from  the 
works  of  William  Harbutt  Dawson,  whose  books, 
"The  Evolution  of  Modern  Germany,"  "Industrial 
Germany,"  "Social  Insurance  in  Germany,"  and 
"Municipal  Life  and  Government  in  Germany,"  offer 
mines  of  information  as  well  as  a  sympathetic  in- 
terpretation of  the  constructive  political  and  social 
statesmanship  of  that  country. 

I  am  also  indebted  to  Miss  Gertrude  Borchard  for 
valuable  assistance  and  research  in  the  collection  of 
material  and  its  preparation  for  publication. 

FREDERIC  C.  HOWE. 

NEW  YORK,  September,  1915. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

PREFACE      v 

CHAPTER 

I.     INTRODUCTORY — THE  DUAL  GERMANY 1 

II.     THE  BACKGROUND  OF  MODERN  GERMANY     ...  8 

III.  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE 24 

IV.  THE  ECONOMIC  FOUNDATIONS  OF  CLASS  RULE    .     .  36 
V.    RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS       52 

VI.     THE  THEORY  AND  EXTENT  OF  STATE  SOCIALISM  .  80 

VII.     THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS 95 

VIII.     CANALS,  WATERWAYS,  AND  FREE  PORTS  ....  121 

IX.    HARBORS  AND  RIVER  SHIPPING 133 

X.    MINES,  FORESTS,  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LANDS    .    .  146 

XI.     THE  ATTITUDE  OF  GERMANY  TOWARD  THE  SOCIAL 

PROBLEM 161 

XII.    CARING  FOR  THE  UNEMPLOYED 172 

XIII.  LABOR  AND  INDUSTRIAL  COURTS 182 

XIV.  SOCIAL  INSURANCE  AND  SOCIAL  DEMOCRACY    .    .  192 
XV.    HIGHER  EDUCATION — PROVIDING  THE  EXPERT  .     .  208 

XVI.    ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 220 

XVII.    VOCATIONAL   EDUCATION — PREPARING   THE   CHILD 

FOR  LIFE 231 

XVIII.    SANITATION  AND  HEALTH 248 

XIX.    THE  WAB  UPON  DISEASE 258 

ix 


x  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XX.     GOVERNING  CITIES  BY  EXPERTS       265 

XXI.    MUNICIPAL  SOCIALISM 280 

XXII.     THE  BUILDING  OF  CITIES 298 

XXIII.  MUNICIPAL  LANDOWNERSHIP  AND  HOUSING  PROJ- 

ECTS    313 

XXIV.  THE  GERMAN  CONCEPTION  OF  THE  STATE      .     .    .  321 
INDEX   .                                                                        ,  337 


SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTORY— THE  DUAL  GERMANY 

THIS  is  not  an  apologia  pro  Germania.  It  is  not  a 
defense  of  militarism  nor  a  glorification  of  the  Prus- 
sian idea  of  the  state.  Nor  is  it  a  plea  for  socialism, 
although  the  experience  of  Germany  disproves  many 
of  the  arguments  against  the  possibility  of  a  social- 
ist state.  I  am  one  of  those  who  still  believe  that 
with  special  privileges  abolished  and  industrial 
freedom  assured,  society  would  realize  an  approach 
to  economic  justice  that  would  exclude  the  necessity 
of  socialism.  And  I  believe  in  democracy,  and  all 
that  democracy  implies. 

Germany  has  adopted  a  mixed  programme,  a 
programme  of  state  socialism  which  insures  a  large 
degree  of  industrial  freedom.  It  is  not  the  socialism 
to  which  the  Social  Democratic  party  aspires;  it 
does  not  involve  control  by  the  working  classes.  It 
is  the  socialism  of  the  ruling  caste,  the  great  estate 
owners  and  the  capitalists.  And  it  is  through  state 
socialism  that  efficiency  as  well  as  a  large  measure 
of  freedom  has  been  secured. 

With  many  other  Americans  I  have  an  affection 
for  the  German  people,  for  the  orderliness,  finish, 
and  perfection  of  administration  that  makes  for 


2  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

personal  comfort  and  convenience.  I  like  the  Ger- 
man cities,  and  have  affectionate  memories  of 
Munich,  Dresden,  Diisseldorf,  Frankfort,  and  Nu- 
remberg, with  their  generous  provision  for  art, 
drama,  music,  and  the  cultural  things  of  life.  I  have 
a  veneration  for  the  traditions  and  glories  of  the 
principalities  and  free  cities  that  existed  for  cen- 
turies as  autonomous  states  prior  to  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  empire.  I  have  unbounded  respect  for 
the  German  educational  system,  for  the  universities, 
for  the  wonderful  elementary,  vocational,  and  high 
schools,  as  well  as  for  the  technical  colleges  for 
training  in  industrial  arts,  in  commerce  and  admin- 
istration. I  admire  the  far-seeing  legislation  for  the 
protection  of  the  worker  from  the  costs  of  industrial 
and  urban  life,  the  social  measures  promoted  by  Bis- 
marck, and  the  many  municipal  services  like  town- 
planning,  municipal  ownership,  and  the  other  public 
activities  that  explain  in  large  measure  the  charm 
of  the  German  city. 

The  following  chapters  are  an  attempt  to  under- 
stand the  conflict  between  these  achievements  and 
the  things  we  do  not  like  in  Germany;  they  are  an 
endeavor  to  explain  the  militarism  and  the  human- 
ity, the  paternalism  and  the  large  degree  of  freedom 
which  paternalism  has  secured  to  all  classes.  It  is 
an  attempt  to  understand  Germany  at  work  as  well 
as  at  war;  to  portray  the  background  which  in  large 
measure  explains  the  military  efficiency  of  the  em- 


THE  DUAL  GERMANY  3 

pire.  And  I  have  tried  to  write  the  book  as  though 
there  were  no  war. 

And  the  underlying  fact  about  Germany  is  that 
the  old  Germany  of  a  score  of  independent  states 
has  been  submerged  by  the  new  Germany  of  Prussia. 
For  Prussia  is  Germany,  and  Prussia  in  turn  is  feudal. 
The  confusion  we  feel  about  Germany  is  traceable 
to  the  fact  that  much  of  the  beauty  and  charm  of 
old  Germany  has  been  crushed  under  the  heel  of  the 
feudal  autocratic  caste  which  under  constitutional 
forms  has  projected  its  ideas  into  the  very  life  of 
the  empire.  It  is  a  Germany  that  has  lost  much  of 
the  individuality,  much  of  the  freedom,  and  much 
of  the  liberalism  of  a  century  ago,  for  which  has 
been  substituted  a  commercial  and  landed  feudal- 
ism having  for  its  foundations  the  political  and  so- 
cial concepts  of  an  earlier  age. 

We  may  deplore  the  Prussianizing  process  but  at 
the  same  time  admit  that  there  is  much  that  is  won- 
derful in  the  structure  that  has  been  erected  during 
the  past  generation ;  a  structure  like  that  of  ancient 
Rome  in  the  institutions  that  have  been  created, 
and  the  big-visioned  ideas  of  legislation,  of  educa- 
tion, and  of  social  activities  that  have  been  given  to 
the  world.  These  ideas  will  only  be  ignored  by 
those  who  will  not  see.  And  it  will  be  an  unfortu- 
nate thing  for  the  nation  that  refuses  to  see.  For 
once  the  war  is  over,  the  pace  for  industrial  suprem- 
acy will  be  fierce  and  rapid.  The  race  for  recovery 


4  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

will  be  to  the  strong  and  well-equipped.  And  there 
is  no  doubt  but  that  Germany  will  turn  from  war 
to  peace  with  much  of  the  preparedness  that  she 
turned  from  peace  to  war.  Her  state-owned  rail- 
ways and  waterways,  her  mines  and  mineral  re- 
sources, her  shipping  and  other  commercial  agencies, 
with  the  highly  trained  men  at  her  command,  will 
respond  to  an  electric  button  when  the  treaties  of 
peace  are  agreed  upon,  and  her  mills,  factories,  and 
workshops,  her  financial  resources  and  credit  agen- 
cies, will  respond  to  the  imperial  will  just  as  did  the 
armies  which  were  set  in  motion  by  the  mobilization 
orders  in  the  summer  of  1914.  I  have  no  doubt  but 
that  to-day,  in  the  midst  of  encircling  wars,  Ger- 
many is  making  ready  for  peace,  and  the  problems 
then  to  be  met,  just  as  for  a  quarter  of  a  century 
she  has  been  preparing  for  war.  And  just  as  France 
and  England  found  themselves  unprepared  on  the 
battle  line,  so  they,  and  possibly  America,  will  find 
themselves  equally  unprepared  for  the  new  struggle 
when  the  war  is  over. 

And  whatever  we  may  think  of  German  milita- 
rism, of  German  autocracy,  of  German  Kultur,  the 
fact  remains  that  Germany  has  developed  wonderful 
efficiency,  not  only  in  the  production  of  wealth,  but 
in  the  distribution  of  the  advantages  of  civilization 
as  well.  There  is  efficiency  in  transportation,  scien- 
tific thought  to  every  process  and  every  social  and 
industrial  problem;  there  is  the  greatest  concern  for 


THE  DUAL  GERMANY  5 

human  life,  for  health  and  well-being,  for  the  educa- 
tion and  training  of  workers,  artists,  commercial  men, 
and  scientists,  and  the  co-ordination  of  the  individual 
into  a  machine  of  national  rather  than  purely  per- 
sonal dimensions.  All  Germany,  in  fact,  acts  as  a 
unit.  The  individualism  of  England  and  America 
does  not  there  exist.  There  is  an  official  realization 
that  the  division  of  labor  is  no  longer  confined  to  a 
single  establishment;  it  is  nation-wide  in  its  scope. 
Along  with  this  is  the  conviction  that  many  things 
must  be  done  by  the  state  to  insure  a  free  field  for 
industry;  to  guarantee  to  every  man  a  fair  chance 
to  realize  upon  his  abilities  and  his  powers. 

All  of  this  is  of  especial  significance  to  America  at 
the  present  time.  Our  public  domain  is  gone.  A 
great  part  is  held  out  of  use.  Opportunities  in  the 
West  are  closed  forever.  Our  unbounded  resources 
have  been  appropriated.  Monopoly  has  closed  many 
industries  to  effective  competition.  The  means  of 
transportation  are  in  private  hands.  Financial  credit 
is  still  largely  a  matter  of  personal  favor.  And 
credit  is  still  monopolized,  as  are  the  raw  materials 
of  production.  Unemployment  is  chronic.  It  is 
likely  to  increase  rather  than  diminish,  for  the  op- 
portunities for  labor  are  under  the  control  of  the 
few.  The  city,  the  state,  and  the  nation  are  still 
largely  police  agencies  rather  than  agencies  of  ser- 
vice. 

Public  officials  are  still  animated  by  the  individual- 


6  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

istic  laissez-faire  philosophy  of  an  earlier  generation, 
and  as  a  consequence  the  public  service  is  negative 
in  its  ideals,  while  the  men  who  are  attracted  to  it  are 
untrained  to  constructive  effort.  Of  skilled  admin- 
istrators with  social  vision,  there  are  comparatively 
few,  while  the  universities  and  the  schools  offer  but 
little  training  in  this  field.  There  is  no  big  state- 
craft, no  commanding  idea  of  statesmanship,  and 
only  grudging  social  legislation.  Instead  we  have 
the  struggle  of  economic  groups,  each  seeking  to 
promote  a  programme  of  narrow  class  interest. 

Many  of  these  problems  have  been  worked  out  by 
Germany  in  a  thoroughgoing  way.  Administrative 
and  industrial  efficiency  are  a  scientific  study  in 
which  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  best  minds  of 
the  state  are  engaged.  The  same  is  true  of  com- 
merce and  trade.  The  rest  of  the  world  is  a  quarter 
of  a  century  behind  Germany  in  social  conscious- 
ness, in  an  understanding  of  the  new  statecraft,  in 
appreciation  of  the  necessity  for  social  legislation, 
and  for  adjusting  education  in  all  of  its  branches  to 
life. 

Germany  has  given  a  new  conception  of  the  state 
to  the  world.  It  may  not  be  a  beautiful  conception. 
It  certainly  violates  our  ideas  of  personal  and  polit- 
ical freedom.  But  at  least  the  idea  is  a  successful 
one.  It  is  in  harmony  with  modern  industry,  and 
finds  its  counterpart  in  the  trusts,  the  syndicates, 
and  the  ideas  of  scientific  production  with  which  we 


THE  DUAL  GERMANY  7 

are  familiar.  Germany  is  a  recrudescence  of  the 
Greek  idea  of  the  state  adjusted  to  twentieth-cen- 
tury conditions.  It  is  a  state  that  thinks  primarily 
in  terms  of  the  ruling  class;  but  it  thinks  as  well  in 
terms  of  the  whole  population.  Politically  Germany 
is  an  oligarchy,  but  an  oligarchy  concerned  about  the 
well-being  of  the  people,  about  their  health,  educa- 
tion, comfort,  and  efficiency.  And  viewed  from  this 
standpoint,  Germany  is  a  democratically  minded 
country.  It  is  a  state  organized  on  the  ideals  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  but  guided  by  the  scientific 
ideas  of  the  twentieth  century.  It  is  a  feudal  state 
with  the  view-point  of  benevolent  paternalism.  And 
the  result  of  this  policy  has  been  efficiency,  power, 
and  a  high  average  of  well-being,  coupled  with  ad- 
ministrative control  of  the  lives,  thoughts,  and 
liberties  of  the  people. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  BACKGROUND   OF  MODERN  GERMANY 

WITH  all  of  the  books  that  have  been  written  on 
the  subject,  Germany  still  mystifies  us.  She  evades 
Anglo-Saxon  analysis.  She  differs  from  other  coun- 
tries in  the  most  unexpected  ways  and  challenges 
most  of  our  theories  of  politics.  We  find  difficulty 
in  understanding  the  psychology  of  the  people,  their 
attitude  toward  the  war,  the  Kaiser,  and  the  ruling 
classes.  There  are  many  other  anomalies  that  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  and  especially  the  American  mind, 
cannot  explain.  Governed  by  an  almost  feudal 
aristocracy  with  a  detachment  and  disdain  for  all 
other  classes,  Germany  has  worked  out  the  most 
elaborate  programme  of  social  legislation  and  state 
socialism  of  any  country  in  the  world.  Admit- 
tedly a  people  with  but  little  aptitude  for  politics 
in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  term,  the  states 
and  cities  have  perfected  their  administration  and 
carried  government  ownership  beyond  the  pro- 
grammes of  any  except  the  extreme  socialists  of  other 
countries.  Oppressed  by  the  anti-socialist  laws  of 
Bismarck,  there  has  grown  up  the  most  highly  or- 
ganized revolutionary  type  of  socialism  in  Europe, 
with  a  total  vote  of  over  4,000,000  electors.  Up  to 

8 


BACKGROUND  OF  MODERN  GERMANY        9 

1870  almost  exclusively  an  agricultural  nation,  Ger- 
many has  developed  her  resources,  diversified  her 
industries,  expanded  her  trade  and  commerce,  and 
pushed  herself  to  the  front  rank  as  an  industrial 
power  in  the  face  of  the  almost  complete  occupa- 
tion of  the  markets  of  the  world  by  other  countries. 

These  are  but  suggestive  of  the  many  political 
and  social  riddles  which  Germany  presents.  These 
are  some  of  the  anomalies  which  challenge  the 
teachings  of  history  and  our  currently  accepted 
theories  of  politics. 

What  is  the  explanation  of  the  German  people? 
What  lies  back  of  the  prowess  of  the  nation  not 
only  in  war  but  in  the  arts  of  peace  as  well?  By 
what  means  has  a  peasant  country  been  able  to 
project  its  life  into  industry,  commerce,  and  finance, 
and  extend  its  conquests  into  every  corner  of  the 
earth?  How  has  an  autocratic  state,  the  most 
autocratic  in  western  Europe,  been  induced  to 
think  in  terms  of  the  peasant  and  the  artisan,  and 
to  provide  social  insurance  and  education,  state 
socialism  and  protection  for  the  weaker  members 
of  the  state,  far  beyond  any  programme  yet  de- 
veloped by  any  of  the  democratic  nations  of  the 
world?  What  is  the  social  psychology  of  the  Ger- 
man people  that  apparently  denies  the  materialistic 
interpretation  of  politics  enunciated  by  socialists 
and  largely  confirmed  by  the  contemporary  experi- 
ences of  other  countries? 


10  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

A  people  cannot  be  analyzed  in  a  few  paragraphs, 
and  cannot  be  understood  by  an  outsider  even  with 
the  most  sympathetic  of  intentions.  It  is  difficult 
to  understand  one's  own  country — the  changes  in 
sentiment  and  conviction,  the  swift  abandonment  of 
one  position  tenaciously  held  for  another.  Even 
in  America  the  political  and  social  currents  elude 
us.  And  the  social  psychology  of  Germany  is  par- 
ticularly baffling.  It  has  confused  even  the  students, 
artists,  and  travellers  who  during  the  last  generation 
have  gone  to  Germany  for  an  education,  for  cultural 
things,  and  the  leisure  life  which  Germany  offers. 

Possibly  the  most  important  influence  in  the  mak- 
ing of  modern  Germany  and  in  moulding  the  mind  of 
the  nation  is  the  persistence  even  down  to  present 
times  of  the  feudal  idea  of  the  state  with  its  eight- 
eenth-century relation  of  classes.  The  German 
people,  especially  the  Prussians,  still  think  in  terms 
of  an  earlier  age;  they  accept  the  divine  right  of 
kings  and  the  only  less  divine  right  of  the  feudal 
aristocracy  to  rule.  And  they  accept  this  with  but 
little  intellectual  protest.  Up  to  a  generation  ago 
there  were  but  two  classes  in  Germany:  the  feudal 
estate  owners  and  the  peasants  working  upon  the 
soil,  whose  relations  had  not  materially  changed  in 
centuries.  The  great  feudal  estates  still  persist  in 
Prussia,  and  a  quasi-feudal  system  is  the  economic 
mould  of  Germany.  It  is  this  that  is  responsible 
for  caste,  for  the  division  into  classes;  it  is  this 


BACKGROUND  OF  MODERN  GERMANY      11 

that  explains  the  social  cleavage  and  the  accep- 
tance of  authority.  It  is  this,  too,  that  explains  the 
paternalism  of  Prussia,  just  as  it  is  the  wide  distri- 
bution of  the  land  under  peasant  proprietorship 
that  explains  the  gemutlichkeit  of  South  Germany. 

Feudal  conditions  have  projected  the  traditions 
of  an  earlier  age  down  to  the  present  day.  They  are 
responsible  for  the  autocratic  power  of  the  Bang  of 
Prussia,  who  remains  a  great  landlord,  the  first 
among  other  great  landlords.  His  possessions  have 
been  in  the  Hohenzollern  family  for  centuries.  The 
Mark  of  Brandenburg,  extended  by  force  of  arms 
into  the  kingdom  of  Prussia  and  later  under  Bis- 
marck into  the  empire,  is  an  expansion  of  the  feudal 
state.  The  constitution  of  1871  is  a  legal  crystalli- 
zation of  eighteenth-century  conditions,  as  is  the 
earlier  constitution  of  Prussia.  While  suggesting 
parliamentary  forms,  in  reality  they  but  legalize, 
through  the  limitations  upon  the  suffrage,  the  un- 
just distribution  of  seats  and  the  ascendancy  of  the 
feudal  class,  the  control  of  the  old  aristocracy  in  the 
life  of  the  nation. 

And  this  old  feudal  class  is  the  ruling  class.  It 
fills  all  the  higher  offices  of  the  state.  From  it  come 
the  chancellors  and  ministers  of  the  empire.  It 
officers  the  army  and  navy.  It  moulds  public  opin- 
ion and  controls  legislation.  The  feudal  class  is 
society.  But  this  class  is  not  Germany.  It  has 
little  interest  in  or  appreciation  of  the  Germany 


12  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

which  many  Americans  know  and  love.  And  we 
cannot  understand  Germany  without  understanding 
this  duality.  The  confusion  we  feel,  the  mental 
conflict  of  so  many  people,  is  traceable  to  the  fact 
that  there  are  two  Germanys:  the  Germany  of  poli- 
tics, militarism,  and  aggression,  and  the  Germany 
of  culture,  sweetness,  efficiency,  and  life.  Official, 
feudal  Germany  is  separate  and  apart  from  the 
real  Germany.  The  voice  of  the  class  which  rules 
is  not  the  voice  of  the  people.  It  does  not  represent 
the  worker,  the  peasant,  the  merchant,  or  even  the 
great  majority  of  the  property-owning  classes. 

It  is  this  persistence  of  an  earlier  organization  of 
society  that  explains  the  sense  of  dependence  on  the 
part  of  the  people,  and  the  respect  and  veneration 
for  authority  which  affects  all  classes.  No  other 
nation  has  so  completely  subordinated  the  individual 
to  the  state;  nowhere  does  such  unchallenged  author- 
ity attach  to  so  large  an  official  class;  and  nowhere 
does  the  official  command  such  unquestioned  obedi- 
ence. 

There  are  two  explanations  for  this  persistence  of 
the  mediaeval  idea  of  the  state — an  anachronism  in 
the  twentieth  century.  In  the  first  place  the  French 
Revolution  did  not  penetrate  into  Prussia  as  it  did 
into  Italy,  Belgium,  South  Germany,  and  even 
Scandinavia.  Prussia  was  sparsely  settled.  There 
were  few  cities,  and  the  system  of  feudal  landowner- 
ship  was  too  nearly  universal  for  the  revolutionary 


BACKGROUND  OF  MODERN  GERMANY      13 

forces  to  gain  a  footing.  Nor  did  the  later  revolu- 
tionary movements  of  the  nineteenth  century  pene- 
trate into  that  part  of  Germany  that  lies  to  the  east 
of  Berlin,  into  East  Prussia,  Posen,  and  Pomerania. 
And  when  the  constitution  of  Prussia  was  formed 
the  liberal  forces  were  too  weak  to  make  their  in- 
fluence felt.  The  constitution  then  adopted  was 
merely  a  recasting  in  legal  form  of  the  old  feudal 
order.  There  was  no  provision  for  direct  universal 
suffrage  or  even  an  approach  to  it,  for  a  responsible 
ministry,  or  for  real  constitutional  forms.  Later, 
when  Prussia  became  the  dominating  state  in  Ger- 
many, she  impressed  her  feudal  will  and  control  by 
the  feudal  classes  upon  the  imperial  constitution. 
Manhood  suffrage,  it  is  true,  was  provided  in  elec- 
tions to  the  Reichstag,  but  this  is  only  a  semblance 
of  popular  power.  The  King  became  the  Kaiser, 
and  along  with  the  Bundesrat,  or  Senate,  the  final 
repository  of  authority.  There  is  no  suggestion  of 
popular  control  over  the  government,  and  popular 
opinion  does  not  influence  the  ruling  classes.  Even 
in  the  Prussian  cities  the  great  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple have  but  little  voice.  Politically  Germany  is 
but  little  changed  from  what  it  was  a  century  ago, 
and  the  explanation  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
the  traditions  of  the  people  and  the  constitution  of 
the  state  repose  the  government  in  the  hands  of  the 
great  landowners,  who  remain  almost  as  powerful 
as  they  were  in  an  earlier  age. 


14  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

A  second  explanation  of  the  persistence  of  the 
feudal  state  and  the  eighteenth-century  relation  of 
classes  is  found  hi  the  fact  that  the  industrial  revolu- 
tion did  not  reach  Germany  until  very  recently. 
The  factory  system  with  a  large  industrial  urban 
population  dates  back  to  the  Franco-Prussian  War. 
It  was  almost  a  century  old  in  Great  Britain  before 
it  appeared  in  Germany.  In  the  former  country 
it  had  built  great  cities  and  created  a  powerful 
financial  class,  which  insisted  on  political  and  social 
recognition,  and  through  its  influence  on  legislation 
and  public  opinion  it  put  an  end  to  much  of  the 
personal  and  political  subjection  of  earlier  times. 
The  new  commercial  aristocracy  broadened  the 
suffrage  as  early  as  1832.  It  abolished  the  rotten- 
borough  system,  which  still  prevails  in  Prussia.  It 
repealed  all  limitations  on  admission  to  the  Com- 
mons, and  in  1910  it  took  away  the  veto  from  the 
House  of  Lords.  Freedom  of  conscience,  of  speech, 
and  of  the  press  were  guaranteed,  and  these  are  of 
the  very  essence  of  popular  government.  The 
ministry  was  made  responsible,  not  to  the  King,  but 
to  Parliament  and  the  party  in  power.  Far  more 
important,  the  commercial  classes  became  rich  and 
powerful  a  generation  before  they  appeared  in  Prus- 
sia. The  members  entered  Parliament.  They  married 
into  the  old  aristocracy.  And,  one  by  one,  they  took 
away  the  privileges  of  the  old  feudal  class. 

Through  the  growth  of  industry  England  became 


BACKGROUND  OF  MODERN  GERMANY      15 

predominantly  an  industrial  and  trading  nation, 
until  to-day  four-fifths  of  her  people  live  in  cities. 
And  through  manhood  suffrage  industry  became 
articulate  in  legislation.  It  broke  down  the  old 
feudal  concepts  of  the  state  and  changed  the  psy- 
chology of  Great  Britain.  A  new  aristocracy  was 
elevated  alongside  of  the  old  landed  aristocracy, 
and  in  securing  political  equality  for  itself  it  secured 
equality  for  the  rest  of  the  people  as  well. 

In  Germany,  on  the  other  hand,  the  old  regime 
was  crystallized  into  constitutional  form  long  before 
the  commercial  classes  had  risen  to  prominence  in 
the  empire.  The  commercial  aristocracy  is  of  recent 
appearance;  it  has  never  been  admitted  to  the  old 
aristocracy,  and  under  the  constitutions  of  Prussia 
and  the  empire  it  has  but  little  voice  in  the  affairs 
of  the  nation. 

The  second  influence  in  the  moulding  of  modern 
Germany  is  the  complete  ascendancy  of  two  power- 
ful individuals  who  have  dominated  the  life  of  the 
nation  for  over  fifty  years.  These  individuals  are 
Prince  Bismarck  and  William  II.  And  these  two 
men  were  consistent  in  their  ambitions  and  alike  in 
their  traditions.  They  had  the  same  vision  of  the 
paternal  state.  And  both  reflected  the  ideals  of  an 
earlier  age.  Bismarck  came  from  the  ruling  classes, 
the  aristocracy.  He  loved  Prussia  and  his  King. 
And  he  loved  only  less  the  Junker  class  from  which 
he  came.  He  was  trained  to  statecraft,  and  just  as 


16  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

Stein  and  Hardenberg  were  entrusted  with  power 
following  the  humiliation  of  Prussia  by  Napoleon, 
so  Bismarck  was  given  almost  sovereign  authority 
by  William  I  in  the  years  prior  to  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War,  as  well  as  in  the  period  of  construc- 
tion which  followed  it,  when  the  results  of  military 
conquest  and  the  French  milliards  were  made  the 
basis  of  a  political,  industrial,  and  social  programme 
that  has  been  carried  on  since  Bismarck's  retire- 
ment by  Emperor  William  II. 

These  two  men  have  guided  the  destinies  of  Ger- 
many. They  framed  constructive  legislation  and 
directed  the  state  in  the  same  general  direction. 
Both  were  possessed  of  boundless  imagination  as 
to  the  ultimate  destiny  of  the  German  people. 
They  were  not  seriously  distracted  by  political  con- 
troversy. They  ruled  by  party  coalitions  when  that 
was  possible;  and  when  it  was  not,  they  ruled  without 
parliamentary  sanction.  Their  control  over  Prussia 
was  absolute,  and  through  Prussia  their  control  of 
the  empire  was  almost  equally  so.  They  chose  their 
own  associates,  and  they  chose  them  from  the  feudal 
class.  And  they  fashioned  Germany  to  their  liking, 
not  for  military  purposes  alone  but  for  industrial 
and  commercial  aggression  as  well.  The  legislation 
which  they  promoted,  even  the  social  legislation  for 
the  protection  of  the  working  classes,  was  in  har- 
mony with  the  early  traditions  of  Prussia.  The  laws 
they  insisted  on  involved  no  violent  break  with  the 


BACKGROUND  OF  MODERN  GERMANY      17 

past.  Rather  they  were  a  continuation  of  the  pa- 
ternalism, of  the  feudalism,  of  the  ascendancy  of  the 
state  over  the  individual,  to  which  Germany  had 
long  been  accustomed. 

A  third  influence  in  the  making  of  Germany  is 
education — an  education  which  begins  with  the 
cradle,  that  is  compulsory,  and  is  open  even  to  the 
poorest,  who  are  able  to  make  their  way  through 
the  secondary  schools,  the  academies,  technical  col- 
leges, and  the  university,  if  they  have  the  ambition 
and  the  ability  to  do  so.  Nowhere,  not  even  in 
America,  is  university  training  so  universal  as  in 
Germany;  and  nowhere  are  there  fewer  obstacles 
to  cultural  opportunity.  Moreover,  education  is  a 
matter  of  the  most  serious  official  concern  by  states- 
men and  experts.  It  is  adjusted  to  every  activity, 
to  every  industry,  and  every  scientific  need.  And 
it  is  a  public  rather  than  a  private  function.  The 
appropriations  for  this  purpose  are  generous.  The 
standards  of  elementary  education  are  prescribed 
by  law,  to  which  all  communities  must  conform. 
Elementary  education  is  obligatory.  Above  the 
minimum  requirements  prescribed  by  the  state 
local  authorities  may  go  as  far  as  they  choose,  and 
the  greatest  diversity  exists  in  the  development  of 
higher  education  not  only  between  the  universities, 
which  are  found  in  almost  every  state  of  the  empire, 
but  among  the  municipalities  as  well.  Cities  main- 
tain a  great  variety  of  high  schools  and  academies, 


18  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

in  which  provision  is  made  for  all  kinds  of  mechan- 
ical, vocational,  and  artistic  study.  There  are 
gymnasia  for  classical  training,  for  science,  for  the 
fine  arts.  In  addition,  the  larger  cities  maintain 
colleges  of  commerce  and  technology,  through  which 
thousands  of  students  are  trained  for  industry, 
commerce,  and  state  activities.  There  are  21  uni- 
versities, with  66,000  students,  giving  higher  post- 
graduate degrees  in  philosophy,  law,  and  medicine, 
and  a  dozen  technical  colleges,  with  17,000  students 
pursuing  similar  advanced  courses  in  engineering 
and  science.  Provision  is  made  for  training  in  state- 
craft and  administration.  Diisseldorf  has  a  col- 
lege of  city  administration  and  Berlin  a  college  of 
town-planning,  while  Frankfort  has  recently  opened 
a  municipal  university  planned  on  an  ambitious 
scale.  There  are  numerous  technical  colleges  and 
laboratories  for  mining,  architecture,  forestry,  and 
agriculture,  and  hundreds  of  industrial  and  vocational 
high  schools.  And  these  educational  institutions 
are  all  closely  identified  with  the  state.  Their  pro- 
fessors and  scientists  co-operate  with  the  civil  and 
military  authorities,  while  the  civil  servant  is 
everywhere  trained  to  meet  the  needs  of  adminis- 
tration and  statecraft.  Education,  in  fact,  is  a  pre- 
requisite of  admission  to  the  higher  positions  in  the 
civil  service,  while  the  universities  and  technical 
schools  are  consciously  allied  with  the  administra- 
tion of  the  empire. 


BACKGROUND  OF  MODERN  GERMANY      19 

Education  in  Germany,  from  the  primary  school 
to  the  higher  endowments  for  scientific  research,  is 
an  adjunct  of  the  state,  not  an  isolated,  detached 
thing.  And  it  is  consciously  organized  to  promote 
efficiency.  A  large  part  of  Germany's  industrial 
achievement  is  traceable  to  the  system  of  educa- 
tion, just  as  her  international  trade  is  traceable  to 
the  commercial  colleges,  in  which  thousands  of  men 
are  trained  for  the  conquest  of  the  trade  of  the 
world.  Official  and  industrial  Germany  is  a  product 
of  the  trained  administrator.  Education  has  had  a 
profound  influence  on  the  development  of  the  past 
generation.  It  has  made  Germany  a  land  of  experts. 

All  of  these  influences  have  reacted  upon  one 
another.  Obedience  is  a  product  of  feudal  tradition 
as  is  the  universal  ambition  for  state  service  which 
affects  all  classes.  Education  gave  the  Kaiser  and 
the  civil  service  a  body  of  highly  trained  men,  de- 
voted to  the  Fatherland  and  condemned  by  the 
pressure  of  competition  to  a  calling  chosen  early  in 
life.  Education  supplied  industry  with  scientific 
assistants  and  millions  of  trained  hands  and  brains, 
prepared  from  childhood  for  a  definite  calling.  A 
respect  for  authority,  coupled  with  a  constitution 
that  legalizes  autocratic  power,  made  it  possible  for 
the  Kaiser  to  carry  through  a  colossal  internal  pro- 
gramme, even  against  the  temporary  wishes  of  the 
nation.  There  was  no  responsible  ministry  to  check 
his  will  and  no  popular  party  to  be  satisfied,  while 


20  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

the  press  and  discussion  were  under  the  strictest 
surveillance.  Intelligent  leadership,  an  overcrowded 
scientific  class,  a  wonderful  system  of  trade  educa- 
tion, and  a  people  trained  by  generations  to  respect 
authority  combined  in  the  building  of  a  nation  that 
in  a  generation's  time  has  become  one  of  the  most 
powerful  in  the  modern  world. 

All  of  these  influences  combined  to  make  the 
mind  of  modern  Germany  what  it  is,  to  create  a 
psychology  quite  different  from  that  of  two  genera- 
tions ago,  quite  different  from  that  of  any  other 
nation  in  Europe.  Still  other  influences  contributed 
in  the  same  general  direction.  The  traditions  of  a 
patriarchal  feudal  state  made  it  easy  for  Bismarck 
to  carry  through  his  programme  of  state  socialism. 
The  universities  and  public  opinion  accepted  with- 
out protest  the  taking  over  the  railways,  the  develop- 
ment of  canals  and  waterways,  and  the  acquisition 
of  mines  and  other  industrial  properties.  State 
socialism  fell  in  with  the  traditions  of  the  state,  with 
the  will  of  the  governing  classes,  as  well  as  the  opin- 
ions of  the  academic  world.  For  had  not  the  state 
owned  great  landed  possessions  and  forest  preserves 
for  centuries  and  operated  them  at  a  profit  ?  Legis- 
lation in  the  interest  of  the  working  classes,  the  old 
age,  sickness,  and  accident  insurance  schemes  were 
all  part  of  the  traditions  of  an  earlier  age  and  found 
a  sanction  in  similar  activities  promoted  by  the 
Great  Elector  and  Frederick  the  Great.  New  Ger- 


BACKGROUND  OF  MODERN  GERMANY     21 

many  accepted  state  socialism  just  as  it  accepted 
interference  with  the  lives  and  property  of  the  indi- 
vidual by  the  state.  It  was  in  harmony  with  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  people. 

And  state  socialism  has  reacted  on  the  people. 
It  has  not  only  increased  their  dependence  on  the 
state;  it  has  created  affection  for  the  state  as  well. 
One  explanation  of  the  devotion  of  the  German 
people  to  the  Fatherland  is  the  devotion  of  the 
Fatherland  to  the  people.  This  is  a  most  important 
factor  in  the  psychology  of  modern  Germany,  a 
factor  that  has  been  generally  overlooked.  We  in 
America  find  this  difficult  to  comprehend.  For 
with  us  the  state  performs  but  few  services  for  the 
citizen.  Our  political  philosophy  permits  every  one 
to  do  pretty  much  as  he  pleases.  Neither  the 
nation,  the  States,  nor  the  cities  engage  in  many 
positive  helpful  activities.  Germany  has  the  other 
point  of  view.  The  common  good  is  a  matter  of 
constant  concern,  and  the  state  is  the  greatest  of  all 
agencies  of  service.  More  than  3,000,000  persons 
are  in  civil  service.  This  is  one  person  out  of  every 
twenty.  And  state  positions  are  highly  prized. 
They  carry  dignity,  social  position,  permanent 
tenure,  and  a  pension  on  retirement.  These  em- 
ployees and  those  dependent  on  them  believe  in  the 
Fatherland  and  all  that  it  stands  for.  It  is  their 
whole  life  to  an  extent  that  is  difficult  for  us  to 
understand.  In  addition,  and  this  is  very  impor- 


22  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

tant,  the  state  looks  after  the  individual  in  count- 
less ways.  It  serves  him  all  the  time.  The  service 
is  of  a  paternal  sort,  it  is  true,  but  it  is  satisfactory 
to  the  German  people.  And  this  in  turn  creates  a 
reciprocal  love  on  the  part  of  the  people  for  the 
state.  In  addition  they  have  a  sense  of  common 
ownership  in  the  railroads,  the  telegraph,  the  mines, 
forests,  and  the  agricultural  estates.  There  are 
insurance  funds  which  provide  against  accident, 
sickness,  and  invalidity,  as  well  as  the  old-age  pen- 
sions. If  a  citizen  lives  in  a  city,  as  49  per  cent,  of 
the  people  do,  he  is  a  joint  owner  of  the  street  rail- 
ways and  gas,  water,  and  electric-lighting  plants,  as 
well  as  numerous  other  activities  which  touch  his 
life  in  many  ways.  He  is  educated  in  the  public 
schools;  the  teacher,  the  health  officer,  and  even  the 
relief  committees  come  to  him  as  aids  to  his  am- 
bition and  his  well-being.  Even  the  taxes  are  ad- 
justed so  as  to  fall  most  heavily  upon  those  best 
able  to  bear  them.  For  the  bulk  of  the  revenues 
of  the  cities  and  a  large  part  of  the  revenues  of  the 
state  come  through  the  income  tax,  a  tax  that  is 
paid  directly  and  that  is  consciously  felt  by  the 
payer.  The  payment  of  direct  taxes  in  turn  creates 
an  interest  in  the  state  and  its  many  activities. 
And  nowhere  in  the  world  do  people  pay  taxes  with 
more  willingness  than  in  Germany. 

The  devotion  of  the  German  people  in  the  pres- 
ent struggle  is  far  more  than  a  feudal  tradition.  It 


BACKGROUND  OF  MODERN  GERMANY     23 

is  not  inspired  alone  by  fear  or  coercion  or  venera- 
tion for  authority.  Rather  it  is  largely  a  product  of 
the  action  and  reaction  of  the  state  upon  the  daily 
lives  of  the  people.  The  psychology  of  Germany 
has  a  strong  economic  as  well  as  a  historical  back- 
ground. The  state  may  not  be  dedicated  to  a  good 
cause,  and  it  may  be  mistaken  in  its  conception  of 
the  value  of  German  Kultur  to  the  world.  But  the 
people  have  been  so  indissolubly  merged  into  the 
state,  so  identified  with  it  by  tradition,  education, 
and  the  common  ownership  of  so  many  things  that 
there  has  been  created  a  social  psychology  that  is 
unique  in  the  history  of  the  modern  world;  a  social 
psychology,  too,  that  is  so  different  from  anything 
with  which  we  are  familiar  that  it  is  difficult,  if  not 
impossible,  for  us  to  comprehend  the  conflicting 
meanings  which  Germany  presents  to  the  world. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE   CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   EMPIRE 

WILLIAM  I  became  King  of  Prussia  in  1861.  He 
appointed  Bismarck  as  his  chancellor  and  entrusted 
him  with  large  powers.  Bismarck  loved  his  King 
and  his  Prussia.  He  had  no  sympathy  with  democ- 
racy, with  socialism,  or  with  representative  institu- 
tions. And  with  the  approval  of  his  master  he  pro- 
ceeded to  weld  North  Germany  into  a  federation 
and  later  into  an  empire  under  the  leadership  of 
Prussia.  This  was  his  overmastering  idea,  and  from 
the  very  beginning  he  seems  to  have  had  a  vision 
of  the  Germany  of  to-day  under  the  dominion  of 
Prussia  and  the  Hohenzollerns. 

In  the  process  of  empire-building  his  method  was 
one  of  "blood  and  iron."  In  1864  Prussia  and  Aus- 
tria made  war  on  Denmark  and  annexed  the  duchies 
of  Schleswig  and  Holstein.  Prussia  took  Schleswig 
and  Austria  Holstein.  Two  years  later  Prussia 
occupied  Holstein  under  a  pretext  which  led  to  war 
with  Austria,  a  war  for  which  Bismarck  had  been 
preparing  for  years.  A  single  battle  sufficed  for  the 
humbling  of  Austria,  and  Prussia  annexed  Holstein 
and  also  Hanover,  Hesse,  Nassau,  and  the  free  city 

24 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  25 

of  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  which  had  sided  with 
Austria  in  the  struggle.  This  was  done  to  round  out 
Prussia.  It  made  her  ascendant  in  the  new  North 
German  Federation,  which  was  formed  in  1867 
under  the  hegemony  of  Prussia.  The  Prussian  par- 
liament protested  that  force  was  not  an  adequate 
justification  for  the  annexation  of  independent 
states,  to  which  Bismarck  replied:  "Our  right  is 
the  right  of  the  German  nation  to  exist,  to  breathe, 
to  unite;  the  right  and  duty  of  Prussia  to  give  to 
the  German  nation  the  foundation  for  her  existence." 

The  war  with  Austria  made  Prussia  supreme  in 
Germany.  No  humiliating  terms  were  imposed  upon 
Austria,  nor  was  any  territory  exacted  in  the  treaty 
of  peace.  Austria  was  needed  as  a  potential  ally  in 
case  of  war  with  France.  Following  the  war  a 
constitution  was  adopted,  under  which  Prussia 
became  the  ascendant  force  in  the  North  German 
Federation.  The  King  of  Prussia  was  made  per- 
manent president.  There  was  an  upper  house  made 
up  of  delegates  from  the  individual  states  and  a 
lower  house  elected  by  universal  suffrage.  Into 
this  federation  the  larger  states  of  the  south,  Ba- 
varia, Baden,  Wurtemberg,  and  Hesse-Darmstadt, 
refused  to  enter. 

The  war  with  France  followed  shortly  after.  It 
converted  the  North  German  Federation  into  the 
German  Empire,  made  up  of  twenty-five  sovereign 
and  semi-independent  states  and  Alsace-Lorraine, 


26  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

which  were  voluntarily  or  forcibly  united  under  a 
written  constitution.  In  the  formation  of  this 
union  the  people  of  the  several  states  were  not  con- 
sulted. Bavaria,  Baden,  Wiirtemberg,  and  Hesse- 
Darmstadt,  which  had  previously  stood  aloof,  were 
now  incorporated  into  the  empire. 

Under  the  constitution  adopted  at  Versailles  the 
King  of  Prussia  is  permanent  Emperor.  As  King 
of  Prussia  he  has  almost  autocratic  power  over 
three-fifths  of  the  empire,  but  as  German  Emperor 
his  powers  are  defined  by  the  constitution.  Certain 
limitations  were  placed  upon  his  powers  as  a  neces- 
sary concession  to  the  smaller  kingdoms,  which 
were  loath  to  lose  their  sovereign  independence. 
Still  the  powers  of  the  Kaiser  are  very  great.  He  is 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  the  navy  and 
minister  of  foreign  affairs  as  well.  With  the  consent 
of  the  Bundesrat  (or  council  of  delegates  from  the 
Kings  and  princes  of  the  federated  states)  he  can 
declare  war  and  serve  execution  against  any  of  the 
federal  states  when  ordered  to  do  so  by  the  Bundes- 
rat. He  summons  and  dissolves  the  sittings  of  the 
Reichstag,  with  the  consent  of  the  Bundesrat.  He 
appoints  the  chancellor  and  all  other  higher  cabinet 
officials,  who  are  his  personal  representatives.  There 
is  no  semblance  of  parliamentary  control  over  the 
ministry  or  of  responsible  party  government,  such 
as  prevails  in  England,  France,  Italy,  and  other 
constitutional  monarchies.  Neither  the  chancellor 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  27 

nor  the  ministry  resigns  in  the  face  of  a  vote  of  lack 
of  confidence.  They  are  not  changed  upon  an  ad- 
verse election.  Neither  do  they  necessarily  come 
from  the  majority  party.  The  chancellor  is  such 
by  grace  of  the  Emperor  rather  than  by  virtue  of 
any  popular  selection.  He  presides  over  the  de- 
liberations of  the  upper  chamber,  is  the  fountain- 
head  of  much  legislation  and  has  the  right,  which 
he  constantly  exercises,  of  appearing  and  speaking 
in  the  Reichstag.  By  these  provisions  the  King  of 
Prussia  enjoys  almost  as  great  powers  in  the  empire 
as  he  does  in  Prussia.  He  has  back  of  him  the  sup- 
port of  his  own  state,  the  control  of  the  army  and 
the  navy,  and  the  appointment  and  recall  of  all  of 
the  ministers  of  the  empire. 

The  power  of  the  Kaiser  as  well  as  the  influence 
of  Prussia  has  been  greatly  strengthened  by  the 
personality  of  the  present  Emperor.  The  confedera- 
tion has  become  a  nation  in  every  sense  of  the  word. 
The  particularism  of  the  individual  states  of  a 
generation  ago  has  been  succeeded  by  a  sense  of 
solidarity  which  has  closely  knit  the  people  into  a 
nation.  The  laws  of  Bismarck  contributed  greatly  to 
this  end,  as  has  the  phenomenal  industrial  progress 
of  the  past  generation.  Just  as  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton moulded  the  thirteen  colonies  into  a  nation  by 
his  tariff  and  internal  revenue  policy,  by  the  national 
bank  act,  by  the  nationalization  of  the  debt,  and  the 
location  of  the  capital  at  Washington,  so  Bismarck 


28  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

and  later  William  II  cemented  the  twenty-five  sepa- 
rate states  which  form  the  empire  into  an  indissoluble 
union,  in  which  Prussia  is  supreme.  The  federation 
of  a  generation  ago  has  become  a  nation. 

The  ascendancy  of  Prussia  is  further  assured  by 
her  place  in  the  Bundesrat  or  Senate  of  the  empire. 
This  is  really  a  council  of  ambassadors  from  the 
twenty-five  kingdoms,  principalities,  and  free  cities 
which  comprise  the  empire.  The  members  are  not 
elected  by  the  people;  they  are  appointed  by  the 
rulers  of  the  individual  states.  The  vote  of  each 
state  is  cast  as  a  unit  and  under  instructions  from 
the  states  which  the  delegates  represent.  In  the 
Bundesrat  Prussia  has  20  out  of  58  votes,  her  quota 
having  been  increased  from  17  by  contracts  made 
with  smaller  states  subsequent  to  1871,  by  which 
they  relinquished  their  representation.  Only  14 
votes  in  the  Bundesrat  are  required  to  defeat  any 
proposed  change  in  the  constitution,  so  that  Prussia 
has  more  than  enough  votes  to  prevent  any  curtail- 
ment of  her  power.  By  these  provisions  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  other  states  has  been  relinquished  or 
forcibly  taken  away  by  Prussia.  Politically,  at  least, 
Prussia  is  Germany,  although  some  of  the  trappings 
of  sovereignty  remain  with  the  constituent  states. 

The  Reichstag  is  the  popular  chamber  of  the 
imperial  parliament.  It  was  a  concession  to  the 
liberal  element  of  the  nation,  which  had  been  agitat- 
ing for  a  constitution  since  1848.  It  is  an  escape 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  29 

valve  for  public  opinion  and  little  more.  It  offers 
a  forum  for  discussion  and  as  such  exerts  real  in- 
fluence, but  it  has  never  been  really  democratic  in 
its  personnel,  and  under  the  constitution  it  has  little 
real  power  and  authority.  It  is  the  only  body  in 
Germany,  however,  that  is  elected  by  manhood 
suffrage.  This  explains  the  large  Socialist  represen- 
tation which  it  contains.  Here  alone  have  the  Social- 
ists been  able  to  secure  an  effective  representation  in 
politics. 

Members  of  the  Reichstag  are  elected  for  five 
years  by  direct  universal  suffrage  and  a  secret 
ballot,  members  being  chosen  by  districts.  But 
even  if  the  Socialists  or  radical  parties  controlled  the 
Reichstag,  they  would  be  impotent  to  carry  out  their 
policies,  for  they  could  not  impose  their  will  on  the 
Bundesrat  or  the  Emperor;  they  could  do  nothing 
to  alter  the  constitution,  and  they  could  not  estab- 
lish the  cabinet  or  responsible-ministry  system  which 
is  of  the  essence  of  parliamentary  government. 

The  chancellor,  appointed  by  the  Emperor,  has 
the  right  to  appear  in  the  Reichstag  to  urge  govern- 
ment measures.  The  Reichstag  can  do  as  it  wills 
with  the  chancellor's  proposals,  but,  whatever  its 
action,  it  does  not  affect  the  position  of  the  chan- 
cellor, who  is  responsible  to  the  Emperor  alone.  If 
the  Reichstag  becomes  too  refractory,  he  may  cause 
it  to  be  dissolved,  and  a  new  election  ordered  on 
issues  of  the  chancellor's  choosing.  This  was  done 


30  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

by  Bismarck  after  the  attempts  on  the  life  of  Em- 
peror William  I.  It  has  been  done  on  subsequent 
occasions. 

The  power  of  Prussia  through  the  King,  the  chan- 
cellor, and  the  Bundesrat  is  further  strengthened  by 
her  preponderating  representation  in  the  Reichstag, 
where  she  has  235  members  out  of  397.  Even  in 
the  popular  branch  of  the  government  Prussia  is 
supreme.  No  coalition  of  all  the  other  states  could 
overcome  her  control. 

The  distribution  of  seats  in  the  Reichstag  is  almost 
as  unfair  as  in  the  Prussian  parliament.  Electoral 
districts  have  not  been  changed  since  1871,  when 
Germany  was  almost  exclusively  agricultural.  Dur- 
ing the  intervening  years  great  cities  and  industrial 
centres,  from  which  socialism  recruits  its  strength, 
have  come  into  existence.  But  the  country  dis- 
tricts still  enjoy  representation  apportioned  to  them 
nearly  fifty  years  ago.  And  they  are  strongly  Con- 
servative. Greater  Berlin,  for  instance,  sends  but 
8  members  to  the  Reichstag,  whereas  it  should 
send  20.  All  of  the  members  from  Berlin  are 
Socialists.  The  same  number  of  electors  in  agri- 
cultural districts  return  six  times  as  many  mem- 
bers. The  same  disproportion  exists  in  other  in- 
dustrial centres,  all  of  which,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  Cologne,  are  now  represented  by 
Socialist  members.  In  the  election  of  1907,  20 
seats  were  won  by  the  Conservative  party,  with  an 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  31 

average  vote  of  but  10,500,  while  6  Socialist  seats 
were  won  with  an  average  vote  of  77,500.  The 
average  vote  per  seat  won  by  the  Socialists  was 
69,020,  and  the  average  per  seat  won  by  the  Con- 
servative party  was  25,680.  Were  a  system  of 
proportional  representation  introduced,  as  in  Bel- 
gium, or  were  the  seats  distributed  according  to  any 
just  basis,  the  representation  of  the  Socialists  would 
have  been  115  in  1907  and  127  in  1903.  Nor  are 
the  members  paid.  This  is  a  further  check  on 
democracy.  Bismarck  insisted  upon  this  provision, 
and^  the  Bundesrat  has  repeatedly  rejected  mea- 
sures passed  by  the  Reichstag  providing  salaries  for 
the  members. 

From  the  foregoing  it  is  apparent  that  the  con- 
stitution does  not  essentially  change  the  character 
of  the  eighteenth-century  feudal  state  or  greatly 
impair  the  power  of  the  feudal  classes.  Rather  it 
strengthened  and  legalized  them.  It  gave  the  ruling 
classes  the  sanction  of  popular  approval,  even  though 
the  nation  was  not  consulted.  The  constitution 
crystallized  feudalism  into  legal  form.  Privilege, 
which  was  previously  subject  to  protest  or  revolu- 
tion, as  in  1830  and  1848,  is  now  authoritative.  It 
has  the  backing  of  the  nation  rather  than  of  the 
King,  and  can  be  enforced  by  the  courts  and  the 
army  with  every  show  of  legality. 

The  constitution  of  Germany  made  concessions 
to  the  forms  of  representative  government  but  safe- 


32  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

guarded  the  ruling  classes  against  any  real  exercise 
of  popular  power.  The  actual  power  was  kept  in 
the  hands  of  an  economic  class.  Privileges  enjoyed 
in  an  earlier  age  by  force  of  arms  are  now  en- 
joyed by  law.  The  German  people  were  given  a 
charter,  but  the  charter  contained  few  rights. 
Neither  the  states  nor  the  empire  reflect  the  popu- 
lar will  to  any  appreciable  degree. 

Prussia,  and,  through  Prussia,  Germany,  reflects 
the  economic  interests  of  the  great  estate  owner  or 
Junker.  He  in  effect  is  the  government.  He 
maintains  his  power  in  Prussia  through  a  reaction- 
ary constitution,  the  three-class  system  of  voting 
and  the  open  indirect  ballot,  which  Bismarck  him- 
self termed  "the  worst  of  all  electoral  systems. " 
Through  these  political  limitations  the  Junker 
controls  Prussia  and  through  Prussia  the  empire 
as  well.  He  forms  a  class  by  himself.  And  he  uses 
his  power  to  promote  his  own  interests,  which  are 
mainly  agrarian,  to  shift  the  taxes  onto  others,  to 
maintain  the  army  and  the  navy,  and  to  resist  all 
electoral  reform. 

Throughout  all  Europe  government  by~political 
parties  came  in  with  the  written  constitution.  The 
system  had  its  origin  in  Great  Britain  in  which 
country  the  line  of  division  was  originally  between 
the  greater  and  lesser  landlords.  In  the  early  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  however,  the  commercial 
classes  obtained  control  of  the  Liberal  party  which 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  33 

had  previously  represented  the  lesser  barons  and 
yeomen.  They  became  ascendant  under  the  regime 
of  Cobden,  Bright,  and  Gladstone,  when  the  Liberal 
party  came  to  represent  the  capitalist  and  trading 
classes.  The  Conservative  or  Tory  party,  on  the 
other  hand,  has  always  been  the  party  of  the  old 
aristocracy,  the  feudal  classes. 

The  German  Junker  has  a  party  of  his  own,  the 
Conservative.  It  has  ever  been  the  agent  of  the 
landed  aristocracy.  It  reflects  the  will  of  this  class 
in  financial,  military,  industrial,  and  social  legis- 
lation. The  Junker  is  strongly  imperialistic;  he 
stands  for  a  powerful  army  and  navy,  for  all  legis- 
lation that  will  preserve  his  privileges  and  power, 
and  he  stands  for  little  else. 

The  German  manufacturers,  the  captains  of 
industry,  and  commercial  classes  formed  another 
party,  the  National  Liberals.  The  Clerical  or 
Catholic  group,  whose  strength  comes  almost  ex- 
clusively from  Bavaria,  Baden,  and  the  Rhine 
Provinces,  has  still  another  party,  the  Centre.  Its 
primary  concern  is  religious  and  it  has  used  its 
power  for  the  promotion  and  protection  of  the 
interests  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  the  peasant 
class  from  which  the  party  derives  its  support. 

Over  against  these  parties  are  several  parties 
which  are  much  more  liberal.  The  Freisinnige  or 
Radical  group  is  a  party  of  the  lesser  capitalists, 
tradesmen,  and  shopkeepers.  It  is  a  free-trade 


34  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

party.  Its  controlling  philosophy  is  laissez-faire. 
It  is  in  opposition  to  the  Conservative  and  Liberal 
parties  on  agrarian  legislation  and  a  protective  tariff. 
It  would  liberalize  the  constitution,  democratize 
the  suffrage,  free  the  state  from  the  shackles  of 
feudalism,  and  rely  upon  the  laws  of  nature  and 
freedom  in  the  development  of  the  nation.  The 
Radical  party  is  very  like  the  present  Liberal 
party  in  Great  Britain.  From  this  liberal  group 
members  of  the  Reichstag  taper  off  into  the  Social- 
ists, who  form  the  strongest  party  in  opposition  and 
have  the  largest  vote  of  any  at  the  polls.  The 
support  of  socialism  comes  almost  exclusively  from 
the  cities  and  mining  districts.  Practically  every 
city  in  the  empire  elects  all  or  some  of  its  represen- 
tatives from  the  Socialist  party.  It  is  a  party  of  the 
proletariat  and  has  been  more  class-conscious  and 
revolutionary  in  its  doctrines  than  any  socialist 
group  in  Europe.  Up  to  the  outbreak  of  the 
present  war  it  stood  aloof  from  all  party  alliances 
and  co-operated  with  none  in  legislation.  It  is 
frankly  against  all  governments  save  that  of  the 
working  classes.  It  is  only  less  hostile  to  the  Radical 
group  than  to  the  Conservative  and  Liberal  ones. 
It  fights  its  battles  alone,  is  inspired  by  the  class 
war  and  the  materialist  conception  of  history  and 
politics.  It  is  generally  opposed  to  militarism,  a 
large  navy,  the  "hunger  tariff,"  and  the  present 
constitution.  It  advocates  more  or  less  revolution- 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EMPIRE  35 

ary  changes,  although  the  younger  men  of  the  party 
are  far  more  moderate  than  the  contemporaries  of 
Marx  and  Engels,  who  continue  to  control  the 
councils  of  the  party.  Socialism  has  spread  all  over 
the  empire.  Wherever  industry  has  changed  sleepy 
rural  districts  into  communities  with  an  alert 
working-class  population,  there  social  democracy 
has  its  adherents  organized  into  branches  of  the 
party,  or  of  trade-unions  influenced  by  the  spirit 
of  the  party. 

Divided  roughly,  the  present  membership  of  the 
Conservative  groups  in  the  Reichstag  is  74;  of  the 
Centre  and  Nationalist  groups  of  Poles,  Guelphs, 
Danes,  etc.,  124;  of  the  National  Liberals  and 
Progressive  and  Radical  parties  89,  and  of  the  Social 
Democrats  110.  Each  party  reflects  an  economic 
class  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  nationalist 
groups. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  ECONOMIC   FOUNDATIONS  OF  CLASS 
RULE 

THE  wars  against  Austria  and  France  created 
the  German  Empire.  They  made  Prussia  ascen- 
dant. This  ascendancy  was  made  permanent  by 
the  constitution,  adopted  after  the  defeat  of  France. 
In  the  affairs  of  the  empire  Prussia  has  a  controlling 
voice,  first,  by  the  hereditary  position  of  the  King, 
as  Emperor;  second,  by  the  vote  of  Prussia  in  the 
Bundesrat  and  the  Reichstag;  and,  finally,  through 
the  control  which  Prussia  enjoys  over  any  changes 
in  the  constitution.  Prussia  is  further  supreme  by 
reason  of  her  size,  for  she  contains  three-fifths  of 
the  population  and  most  of  the  wealth  and  industry 
and  almost  all  of  the  large  cities  of  the  empire. 

Prussia  rules  Germany.  And  Prussia  in  turn  is 
ruled  by  the  old  feudal  aristocracy,  by  the  Junkers, 
or  great  estate  owners.  This,  too,  is  written  into 
the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  land.  Privileged 
class  rule,  in  fact,  is  the  German  idea  of  politics. 
This  is  true  of  the  empire,  the  individual  states,  and 
the  cities.  The  class  is  not  the  same  in  the  different 
states,  but  the  rule  is  always  by  a  limited  class. 

36 


ECONOMIC  FOUNDATIONS  OF  CLASS  RULE     37 

And  over  and  above  them  all  is  the  ruling  class  in 
Prussia,  the  old  feudal  nobility,  whose  estates  are 
for  the  most  part  east  of  Berlin,  in  East  Prussia, 
Posen,  and  Pomerania.  In  this  part  of  Germany  the 
land  is  divided  into  great  estates,  which  have  re- 
mained much  as  they  were  in  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries.  There  are  but  few  cities  and 
but  little  organized  industry.  The  industrial  re- 
gions are  to  the  west,  along  the  Rhine  and  the  North 
Sea.  In  1895 — and  conditions  have  not  changed 
materially  in  the  meantime — 31  per  cent,  of  all  the 
land  in  Prussia  was  in  estates  of  more  than  250 
acres,  while  in  the  eastern  provinces  of  Posen  and 
Pomerania  the  great  estates  rose  to  55  per  cent,  and 
52  per  cent,  respectively.  The  average  size  of  the 
8,365  greater  estates  in  East  Prussia  was  1,132 
acres,  while  the  average  size  of  2,793  estates  in 
Pomerania  was  1,380  acres.  Many  of  these  estates 
are  of  far  greater  extent,  and  they  are  owned  by  the 
descendants  of  the  feudal  barons  of  previous  times. 
In  France,  northern  Italy,  Switzerland,  Denmark, 
and  Scandinavia  as  well  as  along  the  Rhine  and  in 
South  Germany  feudal  land  ownership  was  converted 
into  peasant  proprietorship  by  the  French  Revolution 
or  subsequent  legislation.  It  was  scarcely  touched  in 
Great  Britain,  Russia,  Prussia,  and  southern  Italy. 
And  it  is  in  these  countries  that  reaction  persists. 
In  Prussia  especially  the  feudal  aristocracy  has  re- 
mained almost  untouched  by  the  liberalizing  influ- 


38  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

ence  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  has  not  inter- 
married with  the  commercial  classes.  Nor  have  the 
members  entered  industry  or  the  professions.  Con- 
tent with  the  old  order,  they  have  preserved  many 
of  their  privileges  and  almost  all  of  their  political 
and  social  power. 

In  this  part  of  Germany  the  conditions  are  greatly 
changed  from  those  described  by  the  great  liberator 
Baron  von  Stein  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  He  said: 

"The  appearance  of  the  country  displeased  me 
as  much  as  the  cloudy,  northern  climate.  Great 
fields,  of  which  a  considerable  part  lies  in  pasture 
and  fallow,  extremely  few  people,  the  whole  laboring 
class  under  the  pressure  of  serfdom,  the  fields 
attached  to  single  farms,  seldom  well  built;  in  one 
word,  a  uniformity,  a  deadly  stiffness,  a  want  of 
life  and  activity  fused  over  the  whole,  which  op- 
pressed and  soured  me  greatly.  The  abode  of  the 
Mecklenburg  nobleman  who  keeps  down  his  peas- 
ants instead  of  improving  their  condition  strikes  me 
as  the  lair  of  a  wild  beast,  who  desolates  everything 
around  him  and  surrounds  himself  with  the  silence 
of  the  grave. " 

Stein  and  Hardenberg  attempted  to  put  an  end 
to  the  old  feudal  abuses  as  was  done  in  other  coun- 
tries, but  their  reforms  did  not  penetrate  beyond 
the  southern  states.  The  landowners  of  Prussia  de- 
clined to  permit  the  agrarian  reforms  to  be  adopted. 
And  during  the  intervening  century  they  have  con- 


ECONOMIC  FOUNDATIONS  OF  CLASS  RULE     39 

tinued  so  ascendant  in  the  government  that  their 
feudal  privileges  remain  much  as  they  were  a  hun- 
dred years  ago.  Upon  their  estates  they  still 
exercise  independent  manorial  jurisdiction,  in  which 
the  estates  are  the  administrative  units.  There  is 
little  semblance  of  self-government,  such  as  prevails 
in  the  south,  while  the  economic  power  of  the  land- 
lords over  the  lives  of  the  workers  and  the  restric- 
tions of  the  suffrage  preclude  the  peasants  from 
exercising  any  real  influence  in  politics. 

Still  other  influences  have  divorced  East  Prussia 
from  the  liberalizing  influences  of  modern  life. 
There  is  but  little  industry  and  comparatively  little 
intercommunication  in  this  part  of  Germany.  The 
great  landowners  live  upon  their  estates  (where  they 
enjoy  something  like  sovereign  powers)  and  have 
only  occasional  contact  with  the  city.  Here  they 
rule  with  feudal  authority,  while  in  the  legislative 
halls  they  resist  all  legislation  which  threatens  their 
privileges  or  powers. 

"  So  long  as  Junkerism  exists  in  Germany  and  is  a 
leading  factor  in  politics,"  said  a  German  political 
leader  recently,  "there  is  no  possible  hope  of  prog- 
ress." For  the  German  Junker  is  a  reactionary. 
He  is  ultimately  responsible  for  the  militarism  and 
jingoism  which  seem  to  characterize  the  whole 
nation.  Land  monopoly  is  the  economic  framework 
of  Prussia,  and  through  Prussia  of  the  empire  as 
well. 


40  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

The  supremacy  of  the  Junker  is  insured  in  Prussia, 
first  by  property  qualifications  of  the  suffrage  and 
second  by  a  distribution  of  seats  in  the  Prussian 
parliament,  which  lodges  practically  all  power  in  the 
large  property  owners  and  particularly  the  landed 
aristocracy  of  the  eastern  provinces.  In  elections 
to  the  Prussian  parliament  the  voting  strength  of 
the  individual  is  determined  by  the  amount  of  in- 
come taxes  paid  by  him.  This  applies  to  state  and 
city  elections.  The  electoral  power  of  the  individual 
is  ascertained  roughly  as  follows:  The  total  amount 
of  income  taxes  paid  by  all  persons  is  first  divided  by 
three.  Then  those  who  paid  one-third  of  the  taxes 
are  permitted  to  choose  electors,  who  in  turn  elect 
one-third  of  the  deputies  to  parliament.  Then 
those  who  paid  another  third  of  the  taxes  elect 
another  third  of  the  deputies  by  the  same  indirect 
process,  while  the  great  mass  of  the  people,  who  have 
paid  the  remaining  third  of  the  taxes,  elect  the  re- 
maining third  of  the  members. 

Under  these  provisions  the  poorer  classes  are 
practically  disfranchised.  They  have  only  a  sem- 
blance of  a  voice  in  the  government.  As  the  system 
works  in  practice,  from  3  to  5  per  cent,  of  the 
electors  choose  one-third  of  the  members  of  parlia- 
ment; from  10  to  12  per  cent,  elect  another  third, 
while  about  85  per  cent,  of  the  voters  elect  the  re- 
maining third,  or  would  do  so  were  the  ballot  a 
secret  one  and  the  districts  fairly  distributed  ac- 


ECONOMIC  FOUNDATIONS  OF  CLASS  RULE     41 

cording  to  population.  It  is  said  that  in  no  less 
than  2,200  electoral  districts  the  first-class  electors, 
who  choose  one-third  of  the  deputies,  consist  of 
but  a  single  voter.  This  is  the  electoral  basis  of  the 
Prussian  oligarchy. 

Every  effort  to  change  this  system  has  been  re- 
sisted by  the  great  estate  owners.  The  continuance 
of  their  power  depends  upon  the  preservation  of  a 
system  of  voting  which  rests  on  property  rather  than 
on  men.  It  is  against  this  inequality  that  the 
Socialist  and  Radical  parties  are  protesting.  It  was 
this  that  aroused  the  demonstrations  all  over  Prus- 
sia in  the  spring  of  1910. 

The  unrepresentative  character  of  the  Prussian 
electoral  system  appears  from  the  election  returns 
of  1908.  Two  million,  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
thousand,  nine  hundred  and  sixty-one  persons  par- 
ticipated in  the  election.  The  Social  Democrats 
polled  601,093  votes  and  elected  7  members,  but 
should  have  had  105,  under  a  one-man  one-vote 
system,  while  the  Conservatives,  or  agrarians,  cast 
356,110  votes  and  elected  152  members  instead  of 
62  to  which  manhood  suffrage  would  entitle  them. 
The  Clericals  cast  a  vote  of  502,594  and  secured  104 
seats.  They  should  have  secured  88,  while  the 
Liberal  People's  party  elected  28  members  but  were 
entitled  to  40. 

In  addition  the  ballot  is  open  rather  than  secret. 
The  choice  of  the  voter  is  declared  viva  voce.  In 


42  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

consequence  the  peasant  and  agricultural  laborers  do 
not  dare  to  vote  convictions  that  are  contrary  to 
the  wishes  of  the  great  landowner,  while  the  workers 
in  the  city  are  under  the  same  fear.  As  a  conse- 
quence many  remain  away  from  the  polls. 

In  addition  to  the  three-class  system  of  voting 
and  the  open  ballot  election  districts  bear  no  relation 
to  the  present  population.  They  are  distributed  so 
as  to  give  the  landed  aristocracy  an  overwhelming 
advantage.  In  spite  of  the  growth  of  cities,  more 
rapid  than  our  own,  there  has  been  no  distribution 
of  parliamentary  seats  since  before  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War.  In  the  districts  to  the  east,  where 
the  aristocracy  controls  the  elections,  the  number 
of  inhabitants  to  each  representative  is  63,000,  while 
in  Socialist  Berlin  it  is  nearly  three  times  as  much, 
or  170,000.  Berlin  has  9  members  in  the  Prus- 
sian parliament,  but  should  have  24  under  a  uniform 
distribution  of  seats.  One  election  district  in  Prus- 
sia has  34,000  inhabitants,  while  another  has  323,000. 
One-fourth  of  the  population  in  the  sparsely  popu- 
lated districts  elects  161  deputies,  while  another 
fourth  in  the  cities  elects  only  41.  The  Prussian 
peasant  who  blindly  votes  as  his  landlord  orders  has 
many  times  the  electoral  power  of  the  far  more  in- 
telligent elector  of  the  cities.  As  a  consequence  while 
the  Socialists  polled  18.8  per  cent,  of  the  vote  in  1903 
they  failed  to  elect  a  single  member.  In  1908  they 
returned  7  representatives,  at  which  time,  had  the 


ECONOMIC  FOUNDATIONS  OF  CLASS  RULE     43 

election  districts  been  fairly  apportioned,  they  would 
have  elected  81.  On  the  other  hand,  the  conserva- 
tive land-owning  classes  elected  161  members,  while 
the  business  or  commercial  classes  of  the  cities  elected 
but  17.  The  situation  is  not  unlike  that  which  pre- 
vailed in  Great  Britain  before  the  Reform  Act  of 
1832,  which  swept  away  the  rotten  boroughs. 

By  these  devices,  the  three-class  system  of  voting, 
the  open  ballot,  and  the  unequal  distribution  of  seats, 
the  land-owning  aristocracy  rules  Prussia.  This  is 
in  spite  of  the  commanding  importance  of  industry, 
of  trade,  and  of  commerce,  which  form  the  strength 
and  power  of  the  state. 

Through  the  ownership  of  the  land  and  the  con- 
trol of  politics  the  great  estate  owners  control  the 
lives  of  the  peasants.  They  not  only  control  their 
wages  but  their  political  and  social  life  as  well. 
They  elect  their  own  class  to  parliament,  while 
through  an  almost  complete  control  over  the  peas- 
ants they  dictate  local  administration  as  well.  As  a 
class,  the  Junker  is  opposed  to  education  for  the 
peasant;  he  is  opposed  to  every  evidence  of  liberty 
or  democracy,  and  clings  tenaciously  to  the  divine 
right  of  the  King  and  his  own  class  to  rule. 

This  is  the  class  that  rules  Prussia,  and  through 
Prussia  the  empire  as  well.  And  the  rule  is  as  ab- 
solute as  though  it  had  been  expressed  by  law.  In 
effect  it  differs  only  in  form  from  that  of  feudal  times. 

The  Junker  has  always  been  willing  to  sacrifice 


44  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

the  commercial  classes  to  his  own  advantage.  He 
opposed  the  development  of  the  system  of  water- 
ways and  frankly  admitted  that  his  opposition  was 
to  prevent  the  reduction  of  inland  transportation 
costs,  and  the  consequent  competition  of  foreign 
farm  products.  Measures  for  popular  education 
have  been  resisted,  as  well  as  expenditures  for  im- 
proving the  condition  of  the  peasant  classes.  The 
Junker  would  limit  elementary  education;  he  would 
check  ambition,  either  intellectual  or  otherwise,  and 
prevent  the  peasant  from  acquiring  any  knowledge 
that  will  awaken  dissatisfaction  with  his  station  in 
life. 

From  the  great  estate  owners  come  the  chancellors 
and  higher  officers  of  the  empire.  The  Junker 
officers  the  army  and  fills  the  higher  civil  service. 
He  moulds  the  imperial  policy  and  accepts  only 
under  protest  such  small  concessions  to  democracy 
as  Germany  enjoys.  The  merchant  class,  no  matter 
what  its  wealth,  has  never  merged  with  the  landed 
aristocracy  as  in  Great  Britain.  It  has  remained 
separate  and  apart. 

The  power  of  the  Junker  is  further  strengthened 
by  a  class  sympathy  and  understanding  with  the 
Bang,  who  is  of  the  Junker  class.  He,  too,  is  a  great 
landlord.  His  traditions  are  those  of  the  landed 
aristocracy.  For  the  King  comes  from  that  class. 
The  relations  of  the  crown  and  the  aristocracy  have 
never  been  sundered  by  conflict  as  in  England,  in 


ECONOMIC  FOUNDATIONS  OF  CLASS  RULE     45 

which  country  the  feudal  aristocracy  was  in  a  con- 
stant struggle  with  the  King  from  the  thirteenth  to 
the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  contro- 
versy began  with  Magna  Charta.  It  was  renewed 
whenever  the  King  endeavored  to  assert  his  feudal 
rights  as  against  the  great  barons.  For  the  crown 
was  maintained  and  supported  by  dues  and  obli- 
gations payable  by  the  great  estate  owners.  During 
centuries  of  struggle  the  right  of  the  King  to  feudal 
dues  and  taxes  was  encroached  upon  by  the  aris- 
tocracy, until  the  King  became  a  mere  figurehead 
dependent  on  the  consent  of  his  greater  vassals  for 
revenue,  his  army,  and  his  power.  Such  is  the  posi- 
tion of  the  King  of  England  to-day.  In  addition, 
his  ancestors  disposed  of  the  crown  landholdings  to 
favorites  or  squandered  the  great  estates  taken  from 
the  monasteries  and  the  guilds  under  Henry  VIII. 
This  made  the  King  dependent  upon  the  landowners 
in  Parliament  for  revenue,  for  the  King  had  no  per- 
sonal revenue  of  his  own.  In  this  long  struggle  over 
dues  and  taxes  the  British  constitution  was  evolved. 
It  ended  in  the  subordination  of  the  crown  to  Parlia- 
ment, which  up  to  1909  was,  in  effect,  subordination 
to  the  landed  aristocracy. 

The  King  of  Prussia,  on  the  other  hand,  kept  his 
feudal  landholdings.  He  remained  the  first  of  the 
great  barons.  His  kingly  power  was  but  an  evolu- 
tion of  feudal  primacy.  His  private  estates  were 
the  largest  in  the  kingdom.  He  escaped  the  civil 


46  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

wars  of  England  and  France  largely  because  he  was 
economically  independent  of  the  landed  aristocracy. 
He  did  not  need  to  go  to  them  for  taxes.  The  bulk 
of  the  Prussian  revenues  came  from  domain  lands, 
just  as  the  bulk  of  the  revenues  to-day  come  from 
these  and  other  productive  undertakings. 

Thus  the  King  and  Junker  have  been  in  harmony 
from  the  beginning  of  the  Prussian  Kingdom.  Their 
interests  have  been  identical.  The  King  retained 
his  kingly  power  because  he  had  no  controversies 
with  his  barons.  The  feudal  nobility  has  also  re- 
tained its  economic  privileges,  while  the  King  has 
increased  his  royal  prerogatives.  This  has  given 
Junkerism  a  sympathetic  ally  in  court  and  the  King 
a  body  of  supporters  unlike  that  of  any  other  coun- 
try in  Europe  except  Austria  and  Russia,  where  sim- 
ilar conditions  prevail. 

Here  again  is  an  unnoticed  explanation  of  the 
unity  of  Germany.  It  explains  the  rise  of  Prussia, 
the  power  and  the  persistence  of  early  feudal  con- 
ditions. While  France  and  England  were  involved  in 
civil  wars  and  parliamentary  conflicts  between  the 
King  and  the  barons,  Prussia,  by  reason  of  the 
identity  of  interest  and  the  absence  of  conflict, 
remained  unchanged  by  the  currents  of  modern  life. 
And  when  it  came  to  framing  a  constitution  the  old 
regime  was  translated  into  constitutional  forms, 
with  but  little  essential  alteration  in  the  relations  of 
classes.  This  is  one  of  the  most  important  in- 


ECONOMIC  FOUNDATIONS  OF  CLASS  RULE     47 

fluences  in  the  making  of  modern  Germany  as  well 
as  in  the  unity  of  her  ambitions. 

The  Prussian  city  is  also  ruled  by  an  economic 
class,  just  as  is  the  state.  This  rule  is  secured 
through  the  same  three-class  system  of  voting,  which 
lodges  power  in  the  large  taxpayers,  who  in  munici- 
pal elections  are  the  business  men  and  property 
owners.  Here,  too,  from  3  to  10  per  cent,  of  the 
electors  choose  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the 
city  council.  Here,  too,  the  Socialists  and  Labor 
members  are  excluded  from  power.  While  under 
manhood  suffrage  nearly  all  the  cities  send  Socialist 
representatives  to  the  Reichstag,  the  Socialists  have 
practically  no  representation  in  the  administration 
of  the  cities,  where  they  are  in  an  overwhelming 
majority,  and  they  are  never  elected  to  the  mayoralty 
or  to  the  magistrat. 

The  ruling  class  in  the  city  is  the  business  men. 
They  control  the  elections  and  select  men  of  their 
own  class  or  view-point  to  the  higher  administrative 
positions.  And  the  business  men  who  rule  are  not 
the  shopkeepers  or  the  tradesmen,  they  are  the  men 
of  large  means,  the  real-estate  owners,  and  house 
owners.  And  just  as  the  Junker  rules  Prussia  in 
his  own  interest,  so  the  business  men  mould  the  city 
to  their  interest.  But  strangely  enough  they  have 
a  far  more  generous  outlook  than  the  aristocracy 
or  the  business  classes  of  other  countries.  Only  in 
matters  obviously  prejudicial  to  real-estate  interests 


48  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

do  they  promote  their  own  advantage.  As  de- 
scribed elsewhere,1  they  assume  a  large  share  of  the 
local  taxes,  they  have  municipalized  many  of  the 
more  profitable  lines  of  business,  they  regulate 
property  in  the  interest  of  the  community,  and  build 
and  plan  in  a  far-visioned,  patriotic  way.  No  ruling 
class  in  the  world  seems  to  negative  the  idea  of  class 
control  of  politics  as  do  the  business  men  of  the 
German  cities,  for  they  rule  for  the  city  rather  than 
for  themselves. 

Prior  to  1870  Germany  was  profoundly  influenced 
by  the  southern  states,  by  Bavaria,  Wiirtemberg, 
Baden,  and  the  Rhine  Provinces.  It  was  from  this 
part  of  the  old  confederation  that  the  agitation  for 
representative  government  came.  It  was  from  the 
Rhine  Province  and  the  South  German  states  that 
the  revolutions  of  1830  and  1848  drew  their  inspira- 
tion. And  these  states,  like  Prussia,  reflect  the 
economic  foundations  of  the  people.  But  these 
states,  though  monarchical  in  form,  are  democratic 
in  spirit.  And  this  democracy  in  turn  is  traceable 
to  the  wide  distribution  of  land  ownership  among  the 
peasants,  who,  through  ownership,  affect  the  quality 
of  the  government. 

This  part  of  Germany  was  profoundly  influenced  by 
the  French  Revolution.  Here  many  of  the  reforms 
of  Napoleon  were  accepted.  It  was  in  these  states, 
too,  that  Stein  and  Hardenberg  abolished  many  of 

1  See  chapters  XXI,  XXII,  and  XXIII. 


ECONOMIC  FOUNDATIONS  OF  CLASS  RULE  49 

the  abuses  of  the  feudal  regime  and  brought  about 
the  division  of  the  land  into  small  farms,  for  the  most 
part  free  from  the  feudal  conditions  of  an  earlier  time. 
As  a  result  of  these  reforms  these  states  are  liberal 
minded.  Even  the  electoral  provisions  are  more 
generous  to  the  non-propertied  voter.  Whereas 
the  three-class  system  of  voting  prevails  in  Prussia, 
Bavaria  has  a  system  of  proportional  representation 
under  which  each  party  elects  representatives  in 
proportion  to  its  voting  strength.  As  a  consequence, 
the  Socialists  have  returned  many  representatives  to 
the  parliament  and  the  city  councils,  who  in  turn 
have  elected  members  of  their  own  party  to  the 
magistrat,  or  executive  department  of  the  city. 

And  just  as  the  politics  of  South  Germany  reflect 
the  economic  foundations  of  these  states,  so  the 
psychology  of  the  people  is  a  mirror  of  the  same 
influence.  The  South  German  is  easy-going  and 
genial.  He  is  gemutlich.  He  takes  life  simply  and 
easily,  and,  while  he  recognizes  the  advantages  of  the 
empire  and  admires  the  power  and  forcefulness  of 
Prussia,  he  chafes  somewhat  under  her  arrogance. 
Even  the  court  life  is  simpler,  more  democratic  and 
progressive  than  in  Prussia,  while  the  relations  of 
classes  have  little  of  the  caste-like  hardness  which 
characterizes  North  Germany.  All  this  is  traceable 
to  the  long  traditions  of  a  home-owning  peasantry, 
whose  psychology  reflects  the  sense  of  freedom  which 
home  ownership,  wherever  it  be  found,  creates — a 


50  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

psychology  not  dissimilar  to  that  of  France,  of  Hol- 
land, of  Switzerland,  or  of  Scandinavia. 

Just  as  East  Prussia  differs  from  South  Germany, 
so  western  Germany  differs  from  both  of  them. 
West  Germany  is  the  centre  of  the  great  industrial 
development  which  has  taken  place  during  the  last 
forty  years.  Here  are  the  great  iron,  steel,  cotton, 
woollen,  silk,  and  chemical  industries  which  have 
given  Germany  such  eminence.  Here  are  the  cities 
of  Essen,  Cologne,  Dusseldorf,  Duisburg,  Barmen, 
Elberfeld,  and  Crefeld,  that  form  a  series  of  great 
communities  closely  related  to  one  another  and  all 
dependent  upon  the  iron-ore  and  coal  fields  of  the 
Westphalian  district.  Beyond  are  the  great  mari- 
time cities  upon  the  North  Sea  and  the  Baltic,  with 
their  splendid  harbors  and  shipping  facilities.  This 
is  the  centre  from  which  the  new  aristocracy  of 
capital  has  come — an  aristocracy  which,  like  the 
Liberal  party  in  England,  struggles  with  the  landed 
classes  for  the  control  of  the  government.  Here  is 
the  source  of  Germany's  power  in  the  struggle  for 
world  empire;  here  are  many  of  the  most  wonder- 
ful cities  the  world  has  known.  Yet,  despite  the 
preponderance  of  wealth  and  energy  and  the  excess 
of  population,  this  part  of  Germany  remains  sub- 
ordinate to  the  landed  classes  of  the  east,  which 
still  dominate  the  empire.  To  some  extent  the  cap- 
italist classes  have  received  social  recognition;  some 
of  them  have  reached  high  places  in  the  ministry. 


ECONOMIC  FOUNDATIONS  OF  CLASS  RULE     51 

They  are  strongly  represented  in  the  Reichstag 
and  Prussian  parliament.  But  for  the  most  part 
their  political  power  is  confined  to  the  cities  and 
the  lesser  governmental  positions  into  which  they 
have  entered  in  recent  years.  The  commercial  classes 
of  Germany  have  not  yet  achieved  the  political  and 
social  eminence  which  they  enjoy  in  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  V 
RECENT  ECONOMIC   PROGRESS1 

PRIOR  to  1870  Germany  was  an  agricultural  coun- 
try. There  was  little  factory  industry,  little  foreign 
trade,  only  a  rudimentary  navy  and  the  beginnings 
of  a  merchant  marine.  The  traditions  of  the  coun- 
try were  those  of  the  soil,  of  peasant  proprietorship 
in  the  south,  and  of  agricultural  laborers  attached 
to  great  landed  estates  in  Prussia,  Pomerania,  and 
Posen.  The  urban  population  was  relatively  small. 
The  towns  were  capital  cities,  Hauptstaedte,  or  sea- 
ports. As  late  as  the  middle  of  the  century  only 
4  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  Prussia  lived  in 
cities  of  more  than  100,000  people,  while  in  1871 
68  per  cent,  were  still  engaged  in  agriculture. 

Fifty  years  ago  Germany  did  not  suggest  a  great 
empire  challenging  the  world  for  supremacy,  and 
believing  in  its  destiny  as  an  irresistible  power.  Aside 
from  the  memories  of  the  Great  Elector  and  Fred- 
erick the  Great  there  was  little  in  her  history  to 
justify  such  dreams  of  commanding  place.  The 

1  Much  of  the  material  contained  in  this  chapter  is  taken  from 
Germany's  Economic  Progress  and  National  Wealth,  1883-1913,  by 
Doctor  Karl  Helfferich,  director  of  the  Deutsche  Bank.  Where 
no  other  acknowledgment  is  given  the  statistics  of  trade  and  in- 
dustry are  taken  from  this  work. 

52 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS     53 

contributions  of  the  country  were  of  poetry,  phi- 
losophy, music,  education,  the  inner  things  of  life. 
The  great  names  of  which  the  world  was  proud  were 
Goethe,  Fichte,  Schiller,  Lessing,  Kant,  Mozart, 
Beethoven,  and  Heine.  Outside  of  the  Prussian 
aristocracy  political  leaders  aspired  to  a  constitu- 
tional government  like  that  of  England  rather  than 
to  extended  dominion.  A  score  of  states  were  kept 
asunder  by  jealousy,  differences  of  temperament, 
and  economic  interest,  while  the  rival  ambitions  of 
Austria  and  Prussia  seemed  to  forever  preclude  a 
permanent  union  of  the  Germanic  peoples.  There 
were  few  natural  resources.  The  soil  was  far  from 
rich;  in  many  sections  it  was  barren  waste.  In- 
dustry was  undeveloped,  and  England,  the  United 
States,  and  France  had  so  occupied  the  field  that 
successful  competition  seemed  out  of  the  question. 
There  were  no  natural  harbors  like  those  of  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States.  Most  of  the  ports 
have  been  constructed  at  colossal  cost. 

It  was  on  such  unpromising  foundations  that  the 
German  Empire  has  been  reared.  Yet,  despite  these 
limitations,  the  progress  of  the  last  generation  is 
without  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  world.  There 
is  nothing  in  ancient  or  modern  times  to  compare 
with  it.  So  rapid  has  been  the  development  that 
the  estimated  wealth  of  Great  Britain  in  1907  was 
300,000,000,000  marks,  while  that  of  Germany  was 
350,000,000,000  marks.  And  this  wealth  creation  has 


54  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

come  about  in  the  short  space  of  a  generation,  and 
for  the  most  part  during  the  reign  of  the  present 
Emperor. 

Following  the  formation  of  the  empire  a  series  of 
laws  were  enacted  that  swept  away  the  remnants  of 
the  old  state  individualism  and  cleared  the  way  for 
a  great  forward  movement  in  trade  and  industry. 
In  1873  an  Imperial  Bureau  of  Railways  was  estab- 
lished to  control  and  unify  railway  transportation. 
The  same  year  a  currency  reorganization  with  gold 
monometallism  as  the  basis  superseded  the  confusion 
of  coinage  of  a  score  of  states.  The  Imperial  Bank 
was  started  in  1875,  and  two  years  later  a  series  of 
laws  were  passed  covering  bankruptcy,  judicial 
reorganization,  a  civil  code,  and  the  reform  of 
criminal  and  civil  procedure.  Local  government 
was  reorganized.  In  1878  the  traditional  low-tariff 
policy  was  discarded  and  a  protective  tariff  adopted, 
designed  to  protect  the  agricultural  classes  of  the 
east  and  provide  more  adequate  revenue.  Much  of 
this  legislation  was  inspired  by  Prince  Bismarck.  It 
was  almost  as  comprehensive  as  that  of  Napoleon  I. 

Increasing  population  is  an  indication  of  national 
greatness  only  when  the  well-being  of  the  people  keeps 
pace  with  growing  numbers.  And  increasing  popu- 
lation in  Germany  has  gone  hand  in  hand  with  in- 
creasing per-capita  wealth,  increasing  health  and 
well-being,  and  the  universalization  of  educational 
opportunities.  During  the  forty-two  years  from 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS     55 

1871  to  1913  the  population  of  Germany  increased 
by  62  per  cent.  The  growth  from  1871  to  1888  was 
7,000,000,  or  from  41,000,000  to  48,000,000,  and 
from  1888  to  1913  it  was  18,000,000,  or  from  48,- 
000,000  to  66,000,000.  The  most  rapid  growth  has 
been  coincident  with  the  reign  of  the  present  Kaiser, 
Emperor  William  II, 

Germany's  excess  birth-rate  over  the  death-rate 
is  higher  than  in  any  other  country  where  similar 
statistics  are  kept,  with  the  exception  of  Russia. 
The  annual  increase  in  population  due  to  this  excess 
has  remained  for  a  considerable  number  of  years  at 
approximately  800,000,  the  increase  in  1912  being 
839,887.  The  excess  of  births  over  deaths  in  1912 
was  12.7  per  thousand.  In  1911  the  rate  in  Eng- 
land and  Wales  was  9.8,  in  Italy  10.1,  in  France  .9, 
in  the  United  States,  where  proper  vital  statistics 
are  kept,  5.4  to  9.9,  and  in  Russia  17.  Not  only  is 
Germany  a  prolific  country,  but  wonderful  sanitary 
provisions  and  scientific  health  protection  co-oper- 
ate with  a  high  birth-rate  in  stimulating  population. 

Most  of  the  growth  of  the  last  generation  has 
been  absorbed  by  the  cities.  In  fact,  almost  the 
whole  increase,  or  about  24,000,000,  has  been  added 
to  the  urban  population.  Agriculture  claims  a 
diminishing  percentage  of  the  people.  In  1871  68 
per  cent,  were  employed  on  the  land.  In  1882  the 
rural  population  had  fallen  to  42  per  cent.,  and  in 
1907  to  28.5  per  cent.  During  the  period  from 


56  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

1882  to  1907  the  proportion  engaged  in  industry 
rose  from  35.1  per  cent,  to  42.5  per  cent.,  and  in 
trade  and  commerce  from  9.9  per  cent,  to  13.3  per 
cent. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  shift  in  population  Ger- 
many has  become  an  urban  nation.  Great  cities 
line  the  river  Rhine  from  the  Dutch  frontier  to 
Switzerland.  They  have  grown  about  every  harbor 
on  the  North  Sea  and  the  Baltic.  Wherever  natural 
resources  or  transportation  facilities  offered  an  op- 
portunity there  a  city  has  appeared.  And  these 
cities  are  not  straggling,  unkempt  collections  of 
factories  and  work-people,  they  are  cities  of  com- 
manding beauty,  of  fine  architecture,  of  spacious 
streets,  and  of  splendid  public  structures.  The 
growth  in  urban  population  has  been  even  more 
rapid  than  in  the  United  States.  In  1871  there 
were  only  9  cities  of  more  than  100,000  population, 
while  in  1885  there  were  21.  To-day  there  are  48. 
In  1885  8,600,000  people,  or  18.4  per  cent,  of  the 
total,  lived  in  cities  of  more  than  20,000  people. 
In  1910  there  were  22,400,000,  or  34.5  per  cent,  of 
the  whole.  In  1885  there  were  21  cities  of  more  than 
100,000  people  with  a  total  population  of  4,400,000, 
or  9.4  per  cent,  of  the  total,  while  in  1910  there  were 
48  cities  of  more  than  100,000  people  with  a  total 
population  of  13,800,000,  or  21.1  per  cent,  of  the 
whole.  In  a  short  generation  Gemany  has  become 
a  nation  of  great  cities,  and  with  few  exceptions, 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS     57 

such  as  the  industrial  centres  of  the  Rhine  region, 
they  are  cities  of  beauty,  charm,  and  great  dignity. 
This  growth  in  urban  population  has  been  ac- 
companied by  many  of  the  evils  with  which  we  are 
familiar. 

"That  this  shifting  of  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the 
population  from  country  to  town,  from  agriculture 
to  industry,  trade  and  transportation,  has  its  dark 
side,  is  generally  recognized,  and  is  denied  by  no- 
body. But  none  the  less,  the  fact  cannot  be  over- 
looked that  it  was  only  the  expansion  of  our  indus- 
tries, our  trade,  and  transportation,  that  made  it 
possible  on  German  soil  to  give  labor  and  sustenance 
to  the  vastly  increased  population,  to  protect  us 
from  the  misery  of  overpopulation,  and  to  trans- 
form the  natural  growth  of  the  population  into  a 
source  of  increasing  wealth."  1 

Agriculture  in  Germany  partakes  of  a  science. 
It  is  not  so  well  developed  as  in  Denmark  or  Hol- 
land. There  is  not  that  universal  intensive  culti- 
vation that  prevails  in  these  countries,  or  in  France, 
Belgium,  or  Switzerland.  For  much  of  the  land  in 
Prussia  is  owned  in  great  estates,  worked  by  agri- 
cultural laborers.  But  scientific  agriculture  has 
made  great  progress.  It  is  a  matter  of  state  con- 
cern. The  landed  estates  belonging  to  Prussia  and 
the  other  states  are  used  as  experiment  stations. 
They  are  leased  as  model  farms  or  operated  by  the 

1  Germany's  Economic  Progress  and  National  Wealth,  1888-1913, 
p.  20. 


58 


SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


state  itself.  And  while  the  acreage  under  culti- 
vation and  the  number  of  people  engaged  in  agri- 
culture remained  stationary  from  1883  to  1912,  new 
methods  of  cultivation  brought  about  a  great  in- 
crease in  the  yield.  Fertilizers  are  extensively  and 
intelligently  used,  while  mechanical  power  has 
taken  the  place  of  hand  labor.  In  certain  sections 
district  central  power  stations  furnish  electric  power 
for  the  operation  of  all  kinds  of  machines  at  very 
low  cost,  while  modern  farm  machinery  has  been 
widely  introduced. 

How  materially  these  new  methods  of  production 
have  increased  the  productivity  of  German  agricul- 
ture is  indicated  by  the  following  table: 


AVERAGE  FOR  THE 
YEARS  1883-7 

AVERAGE  FOR  THE 
YEARS  1908-12 

AREA 
PLANTED 
HEC- 
TARES 

YIELD 
TONS 

YIELD 
PER 
HEC- 
TARE 
TONS 

AREA 
PLANTED 
HEC- 
TARES 

YIELD 
TONS 

YIELD 
PER 
HEC- 
TARE 
TONS 

Bye  
Wheat  
Summer  barley 
Potatoes 

5,830,000 
1,918,000 
1,737,700 
2,912,800 
3,785,000 
5,905,100 

5,867,800 
2,585,200 
2,232,800 
25,459,200 
4,291,000 
16,874,600 

1.00 
1.34 

1.28 
8.74 
1.13 

2.85 

6,168,261 
1,911,768 
1,604,116 
3,315,137 
4,317,753 
5,949,237 

11,012,171 
3,962,390 
3,220,066 
44,220,213 
8,189,062 
25,024,865 

1.78 
2.07 
2.01 
13.34 
1.90 
4.21 

Oats  

Meadow  hay  .  . 

In  some  crops  the  gain  has  been  extraordinary. 
In  the  case  of  rye,  in  which  there  was  a  gain  of  only 
5.8  per  cent,  in  acreage  from  one  five-year  period 
to  the  other,  the  increase  in  the  yield  was  87.7  per 
cent.,  and  the  increase  in  yield  per  hectare  was  77.7 
per  cent. 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS 


59 


Similar  methods  of  cultivation  give  a  yield  of 
22.6  metric  cwt.  (220  Ibs.)  per  hectare  of  wheat,  as 
compared  with  6.9  for  Russia,  13.8  for  France,  10.7 
in  the  United  States,  and  9.3  in  Argentine. 

Similar  results  are  obtained  in  the  other  staples, 
as  shown  in  the  following  table : 


HAR- 
VEST 
YEAR 

COUNTRY 

YIELD  PER  HECTARE  IN  METRIC 
CWT.   (220  LBS.) 

WHEAT 

BYE 

BAR- 
LEY 

OATS 

POTA- 
TOES 

1912 
1912 

1912 

1911 
1912 
1912 

Germany     

22.6 
6.9 
(  15.0 
I  12.7 
13.8 
13.7 
10.7 

18.5 
9.0 
14.6 
11.6 
14.3 
12.0 
10.6 

21.9 
8.7 
16.0 
13.9 
14.3 
16.7 
16.0 

19.4 
8.5 
13.0 
10.4 
12.6 
15.0 
13.4 

150.3 
81.7 
100.2 
84.4 
74.2 
115.8 
76.2 

Russia  

Austria-Hungary  .... 
France 

Canada 

United  States 

From  Germany's  Economic  Progress  and  National   Wealth,  1888-1913, 
Helfferich,  p.  55. 

All  this  is  the  more  remarkable  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  neither  the  soil  nor  the  climate  of  Germany  is 
particularly  favorable.  Much  of  the  land  has  been 
worked  for  generations,  much  of  it  in  the  north  and 
east  is  far  from  fertile.  Moreover,  Germany  has 
had  to  compete  with  the  virgin  soil  of  newer  coun- 
tries, whose  surplus  produce  has  been  thrown  on  the 
European  markets  during  the  past  few  decades  at 
very  low  prices.  But  while  the  land  in  the  United 
States  has  been  exhausted  by  careless  cultivation 
and  millions  of  acres  of  good  farming  land  have  been 
abandoned,  in  Germany  lands  far  less  fertile  and 
cultivated  for  generations  remain  in  a  high  state  of 


60 


SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


fertility.  There  are  no  deserted  farms  in  Germany. 
In  addition  great  stretches  of  waste-land,  such  as 
marshes,  heaths,  etc.,  have  been  brought  into  till- 
age. It  is  claimed  that  the  area  of  wheat-land  is 
being  doubled  by  these  methods  and  a  comfortable 
living  provided  for  hundreds  of  thousands  of  fam- 
ilies. 

To  some  extent  Germany  has  been  shielded  from 
foreign  competition  by  a  protective  tariff,  but  the 
tariff  has  not  encouraged  agricultural  inefficiency, 
as  it  has  in  other  countries. 

The  sugar  contents  of  the  beet-root  were  discov- 
ered by  a  German  scientist,  and  the  growth  of  this 
industry  in  recent  years  has  been  phenomenal. 
Improved  methods  of  cultivation  as  well  as  manu- 
facture have  created  a  great  industry,  in  which 
Germany  stands  foremost.  In  the  year  1912-13 
the  beet-sugar  production  amounted  to  2,701,000 
tons;  'in  Russia,  the  next  largest  producer,  it  was 
1,374,000  tons.1  In  twenty-five  years  the  production 

1  The  rapidity  of  the  growth  of  this  industry  as  well  as  the  con- 
stantly advancing  efficiency  of  manufacture  is  shown  in  the  follow- 
ing table: 


AVERAGE 

CHOP  YEAR 

BEETS 
WORKED 
UP  1,000 
TONS 

AREA  IN 
BEETS 
HECTARES 

YIELD  OF 

BEETS 

PER 

HECTARE 
TONS 

RAW 

SUGAR 
PRO- 
DUCED 
1,000 
TONS 

OP  BEETS 
REQUIRED 
TO  MAKE 
1  KILO- 
GRAM 
OP  SUGAR 

KILOS 

1888-89  

7,896 

149,411 

28 

991 

7.97 

1910-11  

15,749 

477,909 

33 

2,590 

6.08 

RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS     61 

of  beets  has  doubled,  while  the  sugar-refining  from 
beets  has  increased  two  and  one-half  times. 

Similar  improvement  has  been  made  in  the  live- 
stock industry,  with  the  exception  of  sheep,  which 
require  large  pastures  for  grazing.  The  number  of 
swine,  on  the  other  hand,  rose  from  9,206,195  in 
1883  to  21,805,073  in  1912.  During  the  same  period 
the  number  of  cattle  rose  from  15,786,764  to  20,- 
158,738.  Impressive  as  these  statistics  are,  they 
fail  to  tell  the  whole  story  because  of  the  great  im- 
provement in  the  quality  of  cattle,  brought  about 
through  scientific  breeding  and  the  consequent  in- 
crease in  the  production  of  meat  and  milk. 

Germany  is  far  less  generously  endowed  with 
natural  resources  than  is  the  United  States.  Coal 
and  iron  are  plentiful,  while  salts,  zinc,  lead,  and 
copper  ores  are  found  in  considerable  quantities. 
In  recent  years  these  minerals  have  been  mined  and 
utilized  most  economically  and  form  the  bases  of 
the  remarkable  progress  in  the  manufacture  of 
finished  products.  From  1888  to  1913  the  value  of 
mining  products,  such  as  coal,  ores,  and  salts,  in- 
creased from  700,000,000  marks  to  considerably 
more  than  2,000,000,000  marks.  The  coal  produc- 
tion in  1887  amounted  to  76,200,000  tons,  with  a 
total  value  of  351,300,000  marks.  By  1911  the  pro- 
duction had  risen  to  234,500,000  tons,  and  the  value 
to  1,756,100,000  marks.  In  1912  the  production 
had  risen  to  254,400,000  tons.  Germany  is  the 


62  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

third  largest  producer  of  coal  in  the  world,  having 
almost  overtaken  England,  which  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago  produced  more  than  twice  as  much 
coal  as  Germany. 

The  same  is  true  of  iron  ore,  in  which  production 
increased  threefold  from  1887  to  1911.  But  the  in- 
dustrial development  of  the  country  outran  even  the 
production  of  raw  materials,  and  as  a  consequence 
an  excess  of  9,810,500  tons  of  iron  ore  was  imported 
in  1912. 

Pig-iron  production  increased  from  4,024,000  tons 
in  1887  to  15,574,000  tons  in  1911,  an  increase  of 
287  per  cent.,  an  increase  larger  than  that  of  the 
United  States  with  its  almost  untouched  ore  de- 
posits. The  United  States  produced  6,520,000  tons 
in  1887  and  24,028,000  tons  in  1911,  an  increase  of 
268.5  per  cent.  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  which  in 
1887  produced  more  than  either  of  the  other  two 
countries,  produced  less  than  either  in  1911,  her 
percentage  of  increase  being  only  30.6  per  cent. 
The  same  phenomenal  progress  took  place  in  the 
finished  product.  The  steel  production  of  Germany 
increased  from  954,600  tons  in  1886  to  13,698,600 
in  1910,  an  increase  of  1,335  per  cent.  In  1912  it 
increased  still  further,  to  15,019,300  tons,  the  only 
other  country  approximating  this  increase  being  the 
United  States,  in  which  the  increase  was  910.3  per 
cent,  from  1886  to  1910. 

The    enormous    potash    deposits    of    Germany, 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS     63 

greater  than  those  of  any  other  country  in  the 
world,  are  another  element  in  her  natural  resources. 
And  the  production  of  potash  has  increased  with 
phenomenal  rapidity.  At  the  end  of  the  year  1910 
the  production  exceeded  8,000,000  tons,  worth  over 
100,000,000  marks,  as  compared  with  1,000,000  tons, 
worth  25,000,000  marks  twenty  years  earlier.  Phos- 
phate from  iron  ore  is  also  used  as  a  fertilizer,  while 
the  recovery  of  cyanamide  from  the  atmosphere, 
supplying  the  soil  with  needed  nitrogen,  is  another 
advance  in  which  Germany  has  made  great  progress. 

Many  by-products  have  been  developed  by  Ger- 
man science  in  the  upbuilding  of  her  industries. 
These  include  the  substances  taken  from  mineral 
coal.  The  recovery  of  illuminating-gas  in  making 
coke  out  of  mineral  coal  was  one  of  the  earliest  dis- 
coveries, as  was  the  utilization  of  coal-tar,  a  by- 
product in  the  making  of  coke.  Compounds  of 
carbon  produced  from  coal-tar  are  the  bases  of 
many  important  industries,  such  as  dye-works,  phar- 
maceutical preparations,  etc.,  in  which  Germany  is 
the  acknowledged  leader. 

The  industrial  progress  of  Germany  is  suggested 
by  the  increase  in  steam-power,  which  in  Prussia 
alone  expanded  more  than  fourfold  from  1882  to 
1907,  in  spite  of  the  competition  of  other  kinds  of 
motive  power.  And  if  we  estimate  the  efficiency  of 
one  mechanical  horse-power  as  equal  to  the  labor 
capacity  of  ten  men,  the  effective  horse-power  in 


64  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

1907  was  equivalent  to  the  physical  labor  of  52,000,- 
000  men. 

Water-power  and  electricity  have  also  been 
highly  developed,  along  with  the  gas-engine,  in 
which  development  Germany  is  ahead  of  other 
countries.  Many  wonderful  improvements  have 
taken  place  along  these  lines,  by  means  of  which 
gases  are  generated  from  peat,  lignite,  etc.,  which 
are  distributed  through  district  stations  to  manu- 
facturing plants  and  transportation  systems.  Am- 
monia is  a  by-product  secured  in  the  conversion  of 
peat  into  gas.  The  utilization  of  peat  for  these  pur- 
poses has  opened  up  a  source  of  power  of  enormous 
extent,  especially  in  the  extensive  moors  of  Germany. 
This  new  source  of  energy  is  the  more  important  in 
that  the  utilization  of  peat  transforms  great  stretches 
of  land  into  arable  territory  which  had  before  been 
almost  worthless. 

Science  is  the  handmaiden  of  industry  in  Ger- 
many, as  in  no  other  country.  Wonderful  develop- 
ments have  taken  place  in  iron  and  steel  processes, 
due  to  scientific  improvements,  and  iron  and  steel 
are  fundamental  to  the  manufacture  of  machinery, 
railroads,  bridges,  and  structures.  They  are  the 
bases  of  modern  civilization.  Science  has  co-oper- 
ated with  industry  in  countless  ways  in  every  line 
of  industry. 

"The  compounds  of  carbon  that  can  be  produced 
from  coal-tar  have  become  the  bases  of  important 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS     65 

new  industries,  in  which  Germany,  owing  to  its 
scientific  progress  has  hitherto  enjoyed  the  unchal- 
lenged leadership.  It  is  only  necessary  to  mention 
the  most  important  coal-tar  products,  like  aniline 
and  alizarin  dyes,  pharmaceutical  preparations  like 
aspirin  and  phenacetin,  saccharine  and  the  various 
coal  oils."1 

Similar  improvements  to  those  made  in  the  work- 
ing up  of  iron  and  in  coal  products  have  been  made 
in  other  metals.  The  application  of  electricity  re- 
covered aluminum  from  the  earth  and  made  it  into 
a  great  industry.  It  is  of  great  importance  in  the 
development  of  the  modern  air-ship  and  aeroplane 
industries. 

"The  splendid  development  in  the  utilization  of 
coal-tar  has  its  counterpart  in  the  synthesis  of  or- 
ganic dye-stuffs  (artificial  indigo),  in  the  chemical 
manipulation  of  wood  (cellulose),  in  the  recovery 
of  cyanamide  from  the  atmospheric  air,  ...  in  the 
improvements  based  on  progress  in  biochemistry, 
and  in  the  industries  based  on  fermentation  pro- 
cesses (brewing,  yeast  manufacture,  etc.).2 

In  1912  Germany's  exports  were  8,900,000,000 
marks,  of  which  5,800,000,000  were  in  manufactured 
goods. 

"It  would  be  a  mistake,  however,  to  assume  that 
the  increase  in  our  producing  capacity  in  manufac- 
tured goods  is  fully  expressed  in  the  gain  of  exports. 

1  Germany's  Economic  Progress,  p.  33.  2  Idem,  p.  33. 


66  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

General  observation  and  scientific  investigations  of 
a  detailed  character  combine  to  show  that  the  home 
market  for  our  industrial  products  has  developed 
even  more  rapidly  than  our  foreign  sales.  It  would 
be  rather  a  too  low  than  a  too  high  estimate  if  we 
assume  that  the  producing  capacity  of  German  manu- 
facturing industries  has  been  increased  threefold  in 
the  past  twenty-five  years."  1 

The  progress  of  German  industry  has  been  ac- 
companied by  concentration  of  production  into 
larger  and  larger  units.  A  far  larger  proportion  of 
the  workers  are  now  employed  in  great  concerns 
than  formerly.  In  1907  there  were  5,350,025  em- 
ployees in  establishments  having  over  50  employees, 
as  against  1,613,247  in  1882  and  3,044,267  in  1895, 
an  increase  of  more  than  threefold  from  1882  to 
1907. 

Consolidation  has  developed  along  other  lines  just 
as  it  has  in  the  United  States.  Of  such  consolida- 
tions the  Krupp  works  is  the  greatest  example — an 
establishment  which  includes  coal-mines,  coking 
plants,  iron-mines,  smelting-works,  steel  workings, 
ship-building,  the  manufacture  of  machines,  cannon, 
armor-plate,  and  munitions  of  war,  as  well  as  elec- 
trical works,  river  vessels,  and  fleets  for  the  high 
seas. 

The  following  table  indicates  the  growth  in  the 
more  important  industries,  both  as  to  the  number 
of  persons  employed  and  the  steam-power  applied. 

1  Idem,  p.  67. 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS 


67 


INDUSTRIES 

PEBSONB  EMPLOYED 

1882 

1895 

1907 

PER- 
CENT- 
AGE 
IN- 
CREASE 
1882- 
1907 

Mining,  smelting,  and  salt- 
works (also  wire-drawing 
for  1882)        

430,134 
349,196 
459,713 
356,089 
71,777 

42,705 
910,089 
100,156 
121,532 
469,695 
743,881 
1,259,791 
533,511 

85,394 

536,289 
558,286 
639,755 
582,672 
115,231 

57,909 
993,257 
152,909 
160,343 
598,496 
1,021,490 
1,390,604 
1,045,516 

147,746 

879,600 
747,057 
905,868 
1,171,783 
167,670 

95,957 
1,094,955 
225,046 
206,313 
736,424 
1,260,580 
1,562,382 
1,576,804 

243,262 

104.5 
111.1 
97.1 
229.1 
133.6 

124.7 
20.3 
124.7 
69.8 
56.8 
69.5 
24.0 
195.6 

184.9 

Stone  and  earths  

Metal-working       

Machinery                  

Chemicals 

Illuminating  materials  (fats, 
oils  soap  etc  ) 

Textiles  

Paper     

Leather  

Wood  and  wood-  working.  .  . 
Foods,  beverages  etc.. 

Clothing  trade  and  cleaning 
Building  trade 

Printing,  art  reproduction, 
etc 

STEAM  I 

>OWER  (IN    H 

.  P.) 

1895 

1907 

PER- 
CENT- 
AGE 
IN- 
CREASE 
1895- 
1907 

ELECTRICAL 
POWER 
1907 
IN  1,000 
KILOWATTS 

Mining,  smelting,  and  salt- 
works (also  wire-drawing 
for  1882)  

995,069 

2,332,968 

134.5 

422,782 

Stone  and  earths  

197,796 

503,682 

154.7 

88,570 

Metal-working   

142,141 

443,224 

211.8 

128,909 

Machinery  

184,821 

1,215,512 

557.7 

225,026 

Chemicals   

83,587 

192,905 

118.9 

42,288 

Illuminating  materials  (fats, 
oils,  soap,  etc.)  
Textiles 

29,942 
515  583 

77,265 
886,373 

158.1 
71.7 

13,368 
75,126 

Paper 

201  422 

412,908 

104.9 

54,966 

Leather 

32  377 

85,304 

163.5 

19,302 

Wood  and  wood-  working.  .  . 
Foods,  beverages,  etc  

203,235 
686,263 

346,024 
1,185,819 

70.3 

72.8 

56,325 
152,763 

Clothing  trade  and  cleaning 
Building  trade  

19,235 
46,274 

54,852 
189,117 

185.2 
308.7 

18,999 
21,497 

Printing,  art  reproduction, 
etc 

18  793 

35,974 

91.4 

40,950 

68 


SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


Along  with  the  internal  development  of  the  coun- 
try has  gone  a  remarkable  development  of  overseas 
trade.  Germany  has  reached  out  for  the  markets 
of  the  world.  In  this  competition  she  has  rapidly 
distanced  not  only  Great  Britain  but  America  as 
well.  The  foreign  trade  has  reached  colossal  pro- 
portions in  a  few  years'  time.  The  growth  in  the 
value  of  exports  from  1887  to  1912  in  three  leading 
industries  is  as  follows: 


YBAKS 

COKE 

ANILINE  AND 
OTHER  COAL- 
TAR  DYES 

ARTIFICIAL 
INDIGO 

1887 

Marks 
9,400,000 

Marks 
42,500,000 

Marks 
6,300,000 

1913  

126,400,000 

133,800,000 

45,200,000 

In  1912  the  foreign  trade  of  Germany  amounted 
to  19,600,000,000  marks,  of  which  10,700,000,000 
was  of  imports  and  8,900,000,000  of  exports.  Of 
the  imports,  however,  only  1,600,000,000  marks  was 
in  finished  goods,  the  rest  being  in  food  products, 
raw  materials,  and  semimanufactured  goods,  upon 
which  labor  was  subsequently  employed.  At  the 
same  time  over  two-thirds  of  the  exports,  or  5,800,- 
000,000  marks  was  in  manufactured  goods. 

Machinery  holds  the  first  place  in  value  in  the 
export  trade,  and  amounted  in  1912  to  630,300,000 
marks,  as  compared  with  52,800,000  marks  in  1887. 
The  export  value  of  coarse  and  fine  iron  goods  rose 
from  16,000,000  marks  in  1887  to  580,980,000  marks 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS     69 

in  1912.  Motor-car  exports  amounted  to  65,000,000 
marks  alone  in  1912.  The  value  of  coal  exported 
grew  from  79,900,000  marks  in  1887  to  436,600,000 
marks  in  1912. 

The  export  values  of  certain  finished  and  semi- 
finished textile  goods  increased  in  a  scarcely  less  re- 
markable degree,  as  is  indicated  by  the  following 
table: 


VALUE  IK 

r  MAKKS 

1887 

1912 

Cotton  goods                      

67,300,000 

421,600,000 

W^oollen  goods 

177,600,000 

253,400,000 

Silk  goods 

16,100,000 

190,900,000 

34  000  000 

84,200,000 

17  700  000 

64,100,000 

The  growth  of  Germany's  overseas  trade  is  fur- 
ther indicated  in  the  tonnage  arriving  in  German 
ports.  In  1887  the  aggregate  tonnage  of  ships  regis- 
tering in  German  ports  was  1,675,498,  as  compared 
with  5,917,242  in  other  European  ports.  In  1911 
the  ships  registering  in  German  ports  had  increased 
to  5,397,913  tons,  as  against  15,330,757  tons  in 
other  European  ports.  In  the  vessels  cleared  the 
registered  tonnage  amounted  to  1,661,471  in  Ger- 
man ports  in  1887  and  4,467,353  from  other  ports. 
In  1911  the  tonnage  had  risen  to  5,495,791  from 
German  ports,  as  compared  with  8,975,665  from 
other  European  harbors.  This  tonnage  refers  only 
to  merchant  vessels  carrying  cargoes.  In  1913  there 
were  only  two  ports  whose  foreign  traffic  exceeded 


70 


SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


that  of  Hamburg,  and  these  ports  were  Antwerp, 
whose  import  and  export  trade  is  largely  for  German 
account,  and  the  port  of  New  York.  Despite  many 
limitations,  a  restricted  seacoast  and  difficult  har- 
bors, Germany  has  won  a  dominant  position  on  the 
sea,  surpassed  only  by  that  of  Great  Britain. 

In  the  matter  of  commercial  fleets  Germany's 
proportion  of  the  total  seagoing  commerce  at  the 

GKOUP    OP   SAILING   AND    STEAM   VESSELS    AND    TONNAGE 

OF  GERMANY,  THE  UNITED  KINGDOM,  AND  THE 

UNITED  STATES. 


SAILING  AND 

STEAM  VESSELS 

i 

COUNTRY 

YEAR 

NUMBER 

1,000  REGISTER  TONS 

Germany  : 

1885  

4  102 

1  275  5 

1911    .  .  . 

4  732 

3  023  7 

United  Kingdom: 

1885  
1911 

23,662 
20  919 

7,430 
11  682 

United  States- 

1885 

23  963 

4  265 

1912  

21,278 

4,618  3* 

*  Gross  tons. 


STEAMSHIPS 

COUNTRY 

YEAR 

NUMBER 

1,000  REGISTER  TONS 

Germany: 
United  Kingdom: 
United  States: 

1885  

664 
2,009 
6,644 
12,205 
5,399 
10,309 

420.6 
2,513.7 
3,973.0 
10,711.4 
1,494.0 
2,470.6 

1911  

1885   

1911      .  .    . 

1885 

1912 

outbreak  of  the  war  was  far  behind  that  of  Great 
Britain  and  considerably  behind  that  of  the  United 
States,  although  the  steam  tonnage  of  Germany 
was  somewhat  ahead  of  the  latter  country.  But  it 
is  the  rate  of  growth  that  is  most  significant,  and 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS      71 

in  this  respect  the  progress  of  Germany  has  been 
greater  than  either  of  the  other  two  powers. 

Germany's  overseas  trade  has  been  accompanied 
by  a  policy  of  colonial  expansion,  upon  which  the 
country  entered  about  1885.  England  had  already 
appropriated  the  greater  part  of  the  available 
colonial  possessions  and  concessions  during  her 
uninterrupted  supremacy  on  the  seas.  A  similar 
policy  had  been  pursued  in  a  more  limited  field  by 
France,  Italy,  Holland,  and  Belgium.  It  was  in 
the  face  of  great  difficulties  that  Germany  entered 
on  a  colonial  policy,  which  began  in  Africa  and  the 
South  Seas  in  a  very  modest  way.  By  1913  the 
colonial  empire  of  Germany  amounted  to  2,900,000 
square  kilometres,  about  five  times  the  area  of  the 
German  Empire,  in  which  there  is  a  native  popu- 
lation of  more  than  11,000,000  people.  In  these 
colonies,  which  are  situated  in  South  Africa  and  the 
southern  Pacific,  the  white  population  is  still  negli- 
gible, being  only  about  27,000.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  colonial  policy  of  Germany  has  been  a  failure 
even  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  empire  itself. 
However,  there  has  been  a  considerable  extension 
of  railway  building  and  commercial  development. 
The  aggregate  trade  of  the  African  colonies  and 
of  the  South  Seas  grew  from  46,000,000  marks  in 
1898  to  263,000,000  marks  in  1912,  while  the  trade 
of  Kiao-Chau,  the  most  successful  of  all  German 
colonies,  rose  from  34,500,000  marks  in  1902  to 


72  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

195,000,000  marks  in  1911.  But  the  colonial  ex- 
pansion of  Germany  is  but  incidental  to  other  fi- 
nancial and  commercial  overseas  undertakings.  Im- 
mense sums  have  been  invested  in  development 
projects  like  the  Bagdad  railway  and  the  Shantung 
railway  in  China,  which  opened  up  extensive  regions 
and  gave  promise  of  developing  great  sources  of 
supply  for  German  products.  And  in  this  colonial 
development,  foreign  exploitation  and  merchant- 
marine  promotion  the  resources  of  the  whole  nation 
have  been  interlocked  as  a  great  engine  of  promo- 
tion, including  vocational  and  technical  education, 
the  development  of  trade-schools  and  colleges  of 
commerce,  the  sending  of  thousands  of  trained  men 
into  every  section  of  the  globe  to  familiarize  them 
with  commercial  needs,  to  which  is  added  govern- 
mental encouragement  of  every  possible  kind. 

With  rapidly  growing  industry  at  home  and  an 
increasing  population  came  the  need  of  creating 
"permanent  and  well-anchored  supports  beyond 
our  frontiers."  The  solid  basis  of  Germany's  com- 
merce is  in  her  home  industry,  but  to  a  large  extent 
she  is  dependent  on  foreign  parts  for  the  supply  of 
raw  materials  for  manufacture  and  markets  for  the 
disposal  of  her  surplus.  For  the  purpose  of  keeping 
foreign  markets  open  to  her  goods  Germany  de- 
veloped a  system  of  long-term  commercial  treaties. 
That  this  policy  has  not  altogether  satisfied  her 
needs  is  shown  in  the  following  significant  para- 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS     73 

graph  of  Doctor  Karl  Helfferich,  director  of  the 
Deutsche  Bank,  written  in  1913: 

"With  the  negotiation  of  treaties  for  securing 
the  interests  of  our  commerce  and  shipping,  how- 
ever, we  have  not  been,  and  dare  not  be,  satisfied 
to  stop.  Our  dependence  upon  foreign  countries, 
the  counterpart  to  the  great  advantages  derived  by 
us  from  having  taken  our  place  in  world-economy, 
calls  for  stronger  counterpoises.  Such  a  counter- 
poise can  be  created  by  German  enterprise  and 
German  capital  establishing  a  field  for  their  activ- 
ity beyond  the  borders  of  our  country,  and  thereby 
gaining  a  direct  influence  over  foreign  territories 
that  may  be  important  to  us  as  sources  of  supply 
and  as  markets.  This  can  be  done  in  an  effectual 
way  by  acquiring  oversea  colonial  possessions;  for 
in  such  case  economic  influence  is  secured  and 
strengthened  in  the  most  effective  manner  possible 
by  political  domination.  In  so  far,  however,  as  this 
way  is  limited  or  barred  up  altogether — for  when 
Germany,  after  the  restoration  of  its  political  power, 
first  cast  its  eyes  over  the  seas,  it  found  unfortu- 
nately that  the  colonial  world  was  already  for  the 
most  part  occupied — our  end  must  be  reached  by 
means  of  a  far-sighted  financial  and  economic 
activity." 

Germany's  industrial  prosperity  has  been  ac- 
companied by  a  great  increase  in  wealth  and  a  gen- 
eral improvement  in  the  standard  of  living  of  all 
classes.  In  1870  the  standards  of  the  country  were, 
for  the  most  part,  those  of  agricultural  workers,  of 
peasants,  for  there  were  but  few  large  cities  and 
little  industry.  Wages  were  for  the  most  part  low, 


74 


SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


the  division  of  labor  had  not  been  carried  to  any 
appreciable  extent,  and  the  number  of  workers  re- 
ceiving substantial  incomes  was  relatively  small. 
The  improvement  in  the  last  twenty-five  years  has 
been  striking.  It  is  confirmed  by  such  Socialists  as 
Bernstein.  It  is  evidenced  not  only  in  the  income- 
tax  returns  but  in  the  per-capita  consumption  of 
standard  articles,  such  as  tea,  coffee,  and  cocoa- 
beans. 


TABLE  SHOWING  THE  CONSUMPTION  OF  COFFEE,  COCOA- 
BEANS,  TEA,  AND  RICE 


YEAR 

COFFEE 

COCOA-BEANS 

TEA 

RICE 

TOTAL 
TONS 

PER 

CAPUT 
KILO 

TOTAL 
TONS 

PER 

CAPUT 
KILO 

TOTAL 
TONS 

PER 

CAPUT 
KILO 

TOTAL 
TONS 

PER 

CAPUT 
KILO 

1886-90. 
1912  

114,263 
168,158 

2.38 
2.53 

4,954 
53,601 

0.16 
0.81 

1,912 
4,126 

0.04 
0.06 

84,375 
161,072 

1.76 
2.43 

The  consumption  of  cotton  in  the  year  1912  was  501,660  tons,  or  7.56 
kilograms  per  caput. — Germany's  Economic  Progress  and  Wealth,  p.  124. 

The  per-capita  consumption  of  cotton  increased 
from  4.19  kilograms,  the  average  for  the  years 
1886-90,  to  7.56  kilograms  in  1912,  an  increase  of 
80  per  cent.  Cotton  is  the  most  important  of  all 
the  raw  materials  in  the  clothing  trades,  and  this 
increase  mirrors  the  greater  variety  of  wants  and 
their  increasing  satisfaction  by  the  people. 

The  same  thing  is  indicated  by  the  savings-banks 
deposits,  which  in  1888  amounted  to  4,550,000,000 
marks,  while  twenty-five  years  later  they  had  grown 
to  18,000,000,000  marks,  or  an  increase  of  nearly 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS     75 

400  per  cent.  The  total  deposits  for  the  whole 
country  in  banks,  saving  funds,  and  the  co-opera- 
tive societies  increased  from  6,500,000,000  marks  in 
1888  to  more  than  30,000,000,000  marks  in  1913. 

Inasmuch  as  the  income-tax  system  did  not  be- 
come fully  operative  until  1896,  although  it  was  pro- 
vided for  in  1892,  the  statistics  of  income-tax  re- 
turns are  available  for  only  sixteen  years.  They 
show  a  growth  of  nearly  100  per  cent,  in  this  period. 
The  total  incomes,  including  those  exempt,  in  Prus- 
sia alone,  amounted  in  1896  to  12,855,261,000  marks. 
In  1901  they  amounted  to  15,347,548,000  marks, 
in  1906  17,467,934,000  marks,  in  1911  21,629,650,000 
marks,  and  in  1912  22,311,749,000  marks.  But  even 
under  the  thoroughgoing  system  of  collection  which 
prevails  in  Prussia,  a  certain  amount  of  taxable  in- 
comes inevitably  escapes,  which  is  estimated  at  10 
per  cent,  on  the  total  taxable  incomes  for  1912,  or 
15,240,000,000  marks.  There  should  be  added 
1,524,000,000  marks,  which  should  be  increased  by 
further  additions,  which  would  raise  the  aggregate 
income  for  Prussia  alone  to  about  24,000,000,000 
marks. 

The  population  of  Prussia  in  that  year  was  about 
40,000,000,  which  would  give  an  average  income  of 
nearly  600  marks  per  capita,  or  between  2,500  and 
3,000  marks  per  family.  This  is  about  the  average 
income  in  the  other  states  of  the  empire,  although 
in  the  Hansa  cities,  Hamburg,  Bremen,  and  Liibeck, 


76  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

it  amounts  to  nearly  1,000  marks  per  capita,  while 
in  the  Thuringian  estates  it  is  considerably  lower. 
The  total  private  incomes  for  all  Germany  is  esti- 
mated at  between  39  and  40  billion  marks.  The 
increase  in  the  aggregate  income  for  the  past  six- 
teen years  amounts  to  about  80  per  cent.,  and  the 
increase  in  the  average  per-capita  income  to  about 
45  per  cent.1 

It  is  also  claimed  that  the  distribution  of  earn- 
ings shows  a  similar  favorable  change.  From  1896 
to  1912  the  number  of  persons  in  Prussia  alone 
exempt  from  taxation,  including  their  dependants, 
because  their  income  was  less  than  900  marks,  fell 
from  21,066,000  to  16,105,000;  while  the  number  of 
taxpayers,  including  their  dependants,  increased 
from  10,283,000  to  24,232,000.  In  1896  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  people  were  exempt  from  the  in- 
come tax,  while  in  1912  not  quite  two-fifths  enjoyed 
incomes  below  the  exemption  point. 

Similar  increases  in  taxable  income  are  shown  in 
the  various  groups  during  these  years.  Thus  the 
number  of  taxpayers  in  the  group  enjoying  incomes 
from  900  to  3,000  marks  increased  from  2,321,000  to 
6,123,000,  and  their  total  incomes  from  3,197,000,000 
marks  to  8,584,000,000  marks,  an  increase  of  about 
250  per  cent.  It  was  in  this  group  that  the  greatest 
increase  is  registered.  The  number  of  taxpayers 
and  the  total  incomes  in  the  group  of  those  receiving 

1  Germany's  Economic  Progress  and  Wealth,  p.  97. 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS     77 

from  6,000  marks  to  9,500  marks  per  annum  was 
nearly  doubled. 

The  wages  of  miners  increased  nearly  200  per 
cent,  from  1888  to  1912.  The  wages  in  the  mine- 
inspection  district  of  Upper  Silesia,  for  instance, 
rose  from  an  average  wage  of  516  marks  in  1888  to 
1,053  marks  in  1912.  In  the  mine-inspection  dis- 
trict of  Dortmund  it  rose  from  863  marks  the  first 
year  to  1,586  in  the  latter  year.  These  figures  are 
for  net  wages,  after  deductions  have  been  made  of 
the  payments  for  various  kinds  of  insurance,  which 
have  increased  greatly  during  the  last  few  years. 
In  the  Rhenish-Westphalian  district  the  payments 
for  the  various  forms  of  insurance  amounted  to  204 
marks  per  capita  in  1912.  Comparing  wage  in- 
creases in  Germany  with  those  in  England,  Doctor 
Helfferich  says: 

"The  increase  in  wage  incomes  in  Germany  be- 
comes more  striking  through  a  comparison  with 
England:  The  average  yearly  earnings  of  the  Eng- 
lish coal  miner  in  1900  amounted  to  1,732  marks, 
against  1,332  marks  for  the  German  miner  in  the 
Ruhr  (Essen)  district.  In  the  year  1912,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  English  average  was  1,622  marks, 
and  the  German  1,586  marks.  Besides  this,  the 
German  figures  here  given  represent  net  earnings; 
whereas  the  British  miner  has  to  pay  out  of  his 
earnings  all  the  contributions  to  various  forms  of 
insurance,  except  20  marks  a  year  per  caput  which 
the  employers  must  pay  as  their  average  con- 
tribution for  accident  insurance.  If  we  add  these 


78  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

20  marks  to  the  earnings  of  the  British  miner,  and 
the  204  marks  mentioned  above  as  insurance  con- 
tributions to  the  earnings  of  the  German  miner, 
we  get  an  average  wage  of  1,642  marks  for  the  Eng- 
lish miner  in  1912,  but  1,790  marks  for  the  German 
miner  in  the  Ruhr  district.  The  difference  in  favor 
of  the  German  miner  in  1912  was  therefore  about 
148  marks,  whereas  it  had  been  in  1900 — also  after 
taking  into  account  the  insurance  contributions  of 
that  time — 278  marks  in  favor  of  the  British  miner." 

These  are  some  of  the  achievements  of  peace 
under  a  system  of  universal  military  conscription, 
which  takes  every  able-bodied  man  from  wealth 
production  for  from  two  to  three  years  of  his  most 
active  life.  It  was  achieved  under  heavy  and  in- 
creasing tax  burdens  for  naval  and  military  prepara- 
tion as  well  as  for  education  and  other  purposes. 
It  was  accompanied  by  colossal  expenditure  for  the 
building  of  the  most  wonderful  cities  of  the  modern 
world,  the  construction  of  great  railway  systems, 
of  thousands  of  miles  of  canals  and  navigable  water- 
ways, of  docks  and  harbors,  as  well  as  millions  ex- 
pended in  unproductive  enterprises  and  activities  for 
the  health  and  well-being  of  the  people. 

How  has  this  been  achieved?  By  what  states- 
manship has  an  agricultural  state,  only  emerging 
from  eighteenth-century  feudalism  a  half  century 
ago,  been  raised  to  a  position  of  commanding  in- 
dustrial, commercial,  and  agricultural  importance? 
How  has  the  face  of  the  nation  been  changed,  its  tra- 


RECENT  ECONOMIC  PROGRESS     79 

ditional  policies  and  activities  reversed,  and  an  in- 
dustrial empire  erected  in  a  few  short  years  upon 
such  unpromising  foundations?  This  it  will  be  the 
purpose  of  the  succeeding  chapters  to  answer. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   THEORY  AND   EXTENT  OF  STATE 
SOCIALISM 

AMERICA  and  Germany  have  widely  divergent 
ideas  as  to  the  nature  and  functions  of  the  state. 
We  emphasize  the  right  of  the  individual.  His  prop- 
erty and  his  privileges  are  jealously  protected  by 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws.  The  powers  of  the 
state  are  limited.  They  are  carefully  enumerated 
in  the  constitution.  It  is  assumed  that  the  state 
should  have  as  little  as  possible  to  do  with  business ; 
it  should  leave  productive  industries  to  private  in- 
itiative and  should  give  the  individual  the  greatest 
possible  freedom  on  the  assumption  that  this  is  the 
best  way  to  promote  the  common  good.  It  is  gen- 
erally assumed,  too,  that  the  state  is  incompetent; 
that  its  functions  should  be  limited  to  those  of 
protection  from  domestic  and  foreign  aggression. 

This  is  the  philosophy  of  individualism,  of  laissez- 
faire;  a  philosophy  born  of  pioneer  conditions  and 
later  written  into  our  organic  law.  This  philosophy 
was  the  product  of  freedom  in  America.  In  Europe 
it  was  a  reaction  against  the  feudal  conditions 
which  prevailed  prior  to  the  French  Revolution. 

80 


THEORY  AND  EXTENT  OF  STATE  SOCIALISM    81 

There  was  universal  supervision  of  trade  and  in- 
dustry. Internal  and  external  tariff  barriers  every- 
where prevailed,  while  privileges  and  restrictions  on 
commerce  and  trade  interfered  with  the  freedom  of 
the  individual.  France  abolished  many  of  these 
restraints  with  the  Revolution.  The  idea  of  indus- 
trial liberty  was  carried  into  England  and  de- 
veloped into  a  philosophy  by  Adam  Smith  and 
Ricardo,  the  fathers  of  political  economy  in  that 
country.  Later  the  teachings  of  these  economists 
became  the  working  philosophy  of  the  commercial 
classes  who  desired  free  trade  and  relief  from  the 
mediaeval  restraints  on  the  individual  which  the 
feudal  classes  struggled  to  retain. 

We  in  America  have  carried  these  ideas  to  even 
greater  extremes.  As  time  went  on  they  were  crys- 
tallized into  law  and  made  permanent  by  our  con- 
stitutions and  judicial  decisions.  The  public  opinion 
of  the  nation  became  identified  with  this  philosophy. 
As  a  nation  we  still  think  and  act  in  terms  of  an 
earlier  age,  just  as  do  the  Germans.  We,  however, 
think  in  terms  of  pioneer  conditions,  they  in  terms 
of  feudal  conditions.  We  have  so  weakened  the 
state  that  great  aggregations  of  wealth  have  be- 
come more  powerful  than  the  community,  while 
Germany  has  so  strengthened  the  state  as  to  de- 
vitalize the  individual. 

There  have  never  been  any  presumptions  in 
Germany  against  the  state.  From  earliest  times 


82  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

great  landed  estates  and  forests  have  been  owned 
and  operated  as  part  of  the  fiscal  system.  The 
lives  and  property  of  the  individual  have  been 
regulated  with  inquisitorial  officialism.  The  state 
has  been  supreme  in  the  eyes  of  all  classes.  It  has 
been  feudal,  paternalistic,  agrarian.  There  has 
been  no  bill  of  rights  for  the  courts  to  construe  or 
jealous  insistence  on  personal  liberty  on  the  part 
of  the  people. 

The  universities  reflect  this  point  of  view.  They 
find  a  sanction  of  state  socialism  in  the  history  and 
experience  of  the  country,  just  as  our  universities 
find  a  sanction  of  laissez-faire  in  the  teachings  of 
Adam  Smith,  Ricardo,  and  the  statesmen  of  Great 
Britain.  Each  country  has  evolved  its  own  political 
philosophy  from  its  own  experience  and  self-inter- 
est as  understood  by  the  ruling  classes.  English  po- 
litical economy  has  never  influenced  the  German 
mind  as  it  has  the  French.  Adolph  Wagner  and 
Gustav  Schmoller,  both  leading  professors  in  the 
University  of  Berlin,  approve  of  a  wide  extension 
of  state  activities,  and  Wagner  has  carried  his  ad- 
vocacy so  far  as  to  be  classed  by  many  with  the 
political  socialists.  And  public  opinion  approves 
of  the  subordination  of  the  individual  to  the  state 
and  the  restriction  of  the  play  of  self-interest  when 
it  becomes  harmful  to  its  members.  In  the  mind 
of  the  Germans  the  functions  of  the  state  are  not 
susceptible  of  abstract,  a  priori  deductions.  Each 


THEORY  AND  EXTENT  OF  STATE  SOCIALISM    83 

proposal  must  be  decided  by  the  time  and  the  con- 
ditions. If  it  seems  advisable  for  the  state  to  own 
an  industry  it  should  proceed  to  own  it;  if  it  is  wise 
to  curb  any  class  or  interest  it  should  be  curbed. 
Expediency  or  opportunism  is  the  rule  of  states- 
manship, not  abstraction  as  to  the  philosophic 
nature  of  the  state. 

This  point  of  view  is  known  as  monarchical 
socialism,  state  socialism,  or  the  socialism  of  the 
chair.  And  all  Germany  accepts  it  as  the  most 
natural  thing  in  the  world.  It  is  not  the  opinion 
of  the  ruling  class  alone.  It  is  the  opinion  of  all 
classes.  There  is  almost  no  dissent  to  the  assump- 
tion of  state  supremacy,  of  subordination  of  the 
individual,  of  the  necessity  for  personal  and  class 
sacrifice  to  the  Fatherland,  even  when  the  sacrifice 
is  imposed  by  a  ruling  class.  The  individual  exists 
for  the  state,  not  the  state  for  the  individual. 
Modern  Germany  has  the  social  psychology  of  the 
cities  of  ancient  Greece.  It  is  the  psychology  of  the 
old  feudalism  adjusted  to  new  conditions.  Life 
has  changed,  but  the  habit  of  mind  has  remained 
much  as  it  was  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

This  paternalism  does  not  necessarily  mean  less 
freedom  to  the  individual  than  that  which  prevails 
in  America  or  England.  It  is  rather  a  different  kind 
of  freedom.  Political  freedom,  freedom  of  speech 
and  the  press,  and  the  right  of  assemblage  are  not 
recognized  in  Germany;  they  are  not  protected  by 


84  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

the  constitution  and  the  laws  as  an  inalienable, 
natural  right.  Rather  there  is  endless  supervision  of 
the  individual.  Verboten  is  the  law  of  the  land. 
The  daily  life  of  the  German  is  supervised  by  count- 
less officials  under  the  police  power  of  the  state;  he 
is  subject  to  regulations  without  number  upon  his 
daily  personal  acts.  The  German,  however,  does 
not  resent  this  interference.  The  rules  and  regula- 
tions are  accepted  as  the  rules  of  the  road.  They 
make  it  easier  for  the  average  man  to  live;  and, 
aside  from  the  organized  political  protests  against 
electoral  abuses,  the  privileged  suffrage,  and  the 
interference  with  freedom  of  speech  and  the  press, 
there  is  practically  no  resentment  in  Germany  against 
the  paternalistic  inquisition  into  the  personal  activi- 
ties of  the  people. 

In  other  respects,  however,  the  German  enjoys  a 
freedom  far  greater  than  that  which  prevails  in 
America  and  England.  This  freedom  is  of  an  eco- 
nomic sort.  Privileged  interests  are  kept  under 
control.  There  is  no  favoritism  upon  the  railways 
or  waterways.  Terminals  and  harbors  are  owned 
by  the  cities,  and  water  and  rail  transportation  are 
accessible  to  all  on  equal  terms.  Through  the 
ownership  of  industrial  sections,  cities  offer  building 
sites  to  all  on  easy  and  equal  terms,  so  that  capital  is 
encouraged  to  enter  any  field  without  fear  or  favor. 
Credit  is  under  control;  while  the  state  itself  through 
its  ownership  of  mines  and  natural  resources  keeps 


THEORY  AND  EXTENT  OF  STATE  SOCIALISM    85 

the  raw  materials  of  production  open  and  accessible 
to  all  on  competitive  terms.  State  socialism  in- 
sures that  economic  freedom  which  we  in  America 
have  sought  to  secure  through  the  unrestrained  play 
of  private  initiative.  Social  legislation  directed 
against  the  exploitation  of  the  worker  and  the  con- 
sumer insures  freedom  in  many  other  ways.  It 
protects  the  defenseless  classes  from  exploitation 
and  abuse.  It  safeguards  the  weak.  Universal 
education  offers  opportunities  to  even  the  poorest 
to  advance  whether  it  be  in  the  service  of  the  state 
or  in  the  fields  of  individual  effort.  Germany  pro- 
tects industrial  and  social  equality,  while  America 
protects  political  and  personal  equality.  Her  free- 
dom is  in  the  economic,  ours  in  the  political  field. 

We  find  state  socialism  carried  further  in  the 
cities  than  by  the  state.  And  this  is  where  it  should 
be  least  expected.  For  the  cities  are  ruled  by  the 
business  men,  who  have  received  but  scant  courtesy 
from  the  landed  aristocracy  or  the  ruling  classes  in 
the  empire.  The  dominant  note  in  the  cities  is 
commerce,  trade,  industry,  as  it  is  with  us.  Despite 
this  fact  and  the  control  which  the  business  men 
enjoy  through  the  three-class  system  of  voting,  there 
is  far  less  exploitation  by  privileged  interests  than 
in  America,  far  less  than  in  England.  The  business 
men  assume  the  burdens  of  direct  taxation  with  sur- 
prising willingness.  They  impose  progressive  in- 
come taxes,  often  rising  to  10  or  15  per  cent,  for  all 


86  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

purposes,  upon  their  incomes.  They  impose  taxes 
on  business,  land,  and  the  unearned  increment  of 
land  values.  They  burden  their  cities  with  in- 
debtedness to  make  them  beautiful  and  livable  and 
spend  generously  for  education  and  other  purposes. 
They  have  municipalized  the  street  railways,  gas, 
electric-light,  and  other  public-service  corporations 
and  have  entered  into  municipal  land  speculation 
and  house-building  activities  in  competition  with 
themselves.  Cities  own  banks.  They  regulate  pro- 
perty for  the  good  of  all  and  the  protection  of 
posterity.  They  build  and  plan  for  the  future  with 
a  big  vision  of  the  city  as  does  no  class  in  any  cities 
in  the  world. 

This  acceptance  of  control,  of  regulation,  of  state 
socialism  is  indicative  of  the  point  of  view  of  Ger- 
many. It  is  not  a  patriotism  for  the  Kaiser  alone. 
It  is  a  patriotism  for  the  Fatherland.  With  such  a 
background  and  with  such  a  conception  of  the  rela- 
tive importance  of  public  and  private  rights,  it  is 
easy  to  understand  why  state  and  municipal  socialism 
have  developed  so  rapidly  in  Germany  during  the 
last  quarter  of  a  century. 

The  entrance  of  the  state  into  industry  has  been 
simplified,  it  is  true,  by  the  fact  that  the  ruling  class 
is  the  landed  aristocracy.  The  great  estate  owners, 
or  Junkers,  did  not  own  the  railways  or  the  public- 
service  corporations  of  the  cities.  They  were  not 
interested  in  manufacturing  or  commerce.  They 


THEORY  AND  EXTENT  OF  STATE  SOCIALISM    87 

live  on  their  estates  and  have  but  little  interest  in 
industry.  Nor  have  they  married  into  the  com- 
mercial aristocracy  as  they  have  in  England,  where 
the  landed  aristocracy  has  been  merged  with  the  rail- 
way, financial,  and  capitalist  classes.  The  Junker 
has  always  kept  aloof  from  commerce,  for  which  he 
has  little  real  respect.  As  a  consequence  there  was 
no  conflict  of  interest  in  the  determination  of  policy. 
The  dominant  political  class  has  not  been  opposed 
to  state  socialism,  so  long  as  state  socialism  did  not 
interfere  with  its  own  privileges  and  property. 

Finally,  Germany  did  not  emerge  into  an  in- 
dustrial state  until  after  the  Franco-Prussian  War. 
The  traditions  of  feudalism  continued  long  after 
they  had  passed  away  in  France,  England,  and  those 
parts  of  Europe  where  the  French  Revolution  exerted 
an  influence. 

With  such  traditions  as  these  it  was  perfectly 
natural  for  the  state  to  undertake  new  activities 
and  tighten  its  control  over  individuals  or  corpora- 
tions whose  actions  were  inimical  to  the  state.  If 
the  state  could  own  great  estates  and  manage  them 
at  a  profit,  if  it  could  care  for  its  people  in  time  of 
distress,  why  should  it  not  perform  other  functions, 
which  in  modern  times  lie  close  to  the  life  and  well- 
being  of  the  state,  especially  when  the  things  to  be 
owned  and  the  interests  to  be  regulated  were  the 
property  of  a  class  which  was  but  scantily  represented 
in  the  councils  of  the  nation. 


88  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

Added  to  these  considerations  is  the  fact  that  the 
civil  service  in  Germany  is  very  efficient.  It  is  also 
permanent.  Government  service  is  the  goal  of  all 
classes.  The  official  service  is  recruited  from  the 
best  talent  of  the  nation.  Admission  to  responsible 
positions  in  the  civil  service  is  only  open  to  those 
who  have  pursued  collegiate  or  engineering  training 
followed  by  the  severest  kind  of  examinations. 
Titles  are  universal  and  are  scrupulously  observed, 
even  if  they  be  of  an  insignificant  sort,  while  a  system 
of  universal  pensions  gives  assurance  to  government 
employment  that  adds  much  to  its  attractiveness. 
There  are  a  hundred  trained  men  seeking  admission 
to  every  governmental  opening.  The  majority  of 
the  candidates  have  been  preparing  for  the  service 
from  the  time  they  departed  the  secondary  schools, 
and  in  the  majority  of  instances  they  have  con- 
sciously directed  their  education  to  a  particular  field 
of  activity.  Men  are  not  educated  democratically 
for  any  career  as  in  America.  They  do  not  turn 
their  hand  from  one  occupation  or  profession  to 
another.  Rather  they  are  trained,  in  a  killing  com- 
petition, to  the  particular  employment  in  which  they 
make  a  start.  Rarely  is  there  an  opportunity  to 
turn  back  once  the  decision  is  made.  And  in  the 
government  service  the  choice  is  only  to  go  forward 
or  drop  in  the  pace,  and  in  many  cases  failure  means 
suicide.  For  suicide  is  common  among  the  edu- 
cated proletariat  of  Germany.  With  such  a  civil 


THEORY  AND  EXTENT  OF  STATE  SOCIALISM    89 

service  as  this,  Germany  has  been  equipped  to 
undertake  any  activity  and  to  carry  on  any  under- 
taking. 

There  is  no  clearly  defined  line  of  demarcation 
between  the  industries  that  should  be  socialized 
and  those  that  should  not.  All  forms  of  transpor- 
tation are  in  the  hands  of  the  state,  including  the 
railways,  canals,  waterways,  docks,  harbors,  ter- 


PROPERTIES  OWNED 

CAPITAL  VALUES 

NET  PROFITS  PROM 
OPERATION 

Farms  

$198,122,725 

$7,925,309 

Forests 

730,898,200 

29,235,928 

Mines                  

128,907,725 

5,116,309 

Railways  

4,706,904,750 

189,916,190 

Telegraphs 

Telephones                      . 

694,816,650 

27,792,666 

Express 

Mails  

Other  works  

435,184,900 

17,407,476 

Total  

$6,894,834,950 

$277,393,878 

minals,  telegraphs,  telephones,  and  express  business. 
Coal,  iron,  and  potash  mines  are  operated,  while 
great  forests  and  agricultural  lands  have  been  owned 
by  the  states  and  cities  from  very  early  times.  In- 
dividual states  own  porcelain  manufactories,  banks, 
lotteries,  baths  and  mineral  springs,  amber  works, 
and  breweries.  The  state  printing  works  produced 
a  revenue  of  $800,000  in  1913,  while  the  shares  owned 
in  the  Imperial  Bank  yield  a  substantial  sum. 
Prussia  is  the  largest  single  mine  and  mineral  owner 


90  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

in  the  kingdom,  and  in  1906  operated  36  mines,  12 
smelting-works,  5  salt-works,  3  stone-quarries,  and 
1  amber  works. 

The  total  capital  value  of  the  principal  activities 
owned  by  the  empire  and  the  states  is  approxi- 
mately $7,000,000,000,  and  the  net  annual  profits 
are  nearly  $300,000,000,  distributed  as  shown  in  table 
on  page  89. 1 

The  field  of  socialization  is  being  constantly 
extended.  In  1908  the  Prussian  Diet  appropriated 
$15,000,000  for  the  sinking  of  new  coal  shafts,  while 
in  the  building  of  the  Weser  Canal  from  the  Rhine 
to  Hanover  $5,000,000  was  set  aside  for  the  purchase 
of  land  on  both  sides  of  the  canal  way  so  that  the 
community  could  retain  the  unearned  increment 
from  the  increase  in  land  values  which  the  building 
of  the  waterway  created.  In  addition  by  the  owner- 
ship of  the  riparian  property  the  whole  development 
could  be  so  planned  as  to  provide  factory  sites 
and  distribute  industry  and  population  over  a  large 
area  admirably  suited  for  manufacturing  and  at  the 
same  time  so  distribute  population  as  to  prevent 
the  appearance  of  bad  housing  conditions.  The 
government  of  Saxony  has  proposed  the  erection  of 
large  cast-steel  works  for  the  making  of  rails  and 
other  material  needed,  by  the  state-owned  railway 
lines. 

The   Post  Office   Department  operates   savings 

1  Roberts,  Monarchical  Socialism  in  Germany,  p.  7. 


THEORY  AND  EXTENT  OF  STATE  SOCIALISM    91 

banks,  and  millions  of  persons  have  checking  ac- 
counts with  the  post  office  the  same  as  with  a  private 
bank.  The  German  postman  takes  orders  for  dry 
goods,  groceries,  and  other  commodities  at  the  door 
and  later  delivers  them  at  a  nominal  charge.  The 
parcel  post  is  universally  used  for  the  distribution 
of  products  of  all  kinds.  It  is  a  great  marketing 
agency,  and  through  it  many  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  people  purchase  their  food  supplies  directly  from 
the  farm.  To  such  an  extent  has  public  banking 
superseded  private  banking  that  92  per  cent,  of  all 
deposits  are  in  public  institutions.  Cities  also 
operate  pawn-shops  as  an  aid  to  those  in  distress 
and  have  done  so  for  generations. 

Bavaria  has  insured  her  farmers  against  fire,  hail, 
and  the  loss  of  live  stock  for  generations.  At  the 
present  time  about  $20,000,000  of  property  is  in- 
sured by  the  state  against  fire,  while  142,000  farmers 
are  insured  against  loss  by  hailstones  to  the  extent 
of  $57,500,000.  Cities  also  carry  on  the  fire-insur- 
ance business.  Recently  the  state  and  local  author- 
ities have  begun  the  development  of  hydroelectric 
plants.  Some  years  ago  a  group  of  rural  districts 
determined  to  unite  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a 
central  power  station  to  serve  a  district  in  Cassel. 
A  representative  of  the  government  appeared  and 
announced  that  the  state  had  decided  to  carry  out  a 
similar  project;  so  the  local  plans  had  to  be  dropped. 
The  government  project  involved  the  construction 


92  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

of  a  large  overland  station  to  serve  the  northern 
part  of  the  Province  of  Hesse  and  the  southern  part 
of  the  Province  of  Hanover,  the  water-power  to  be 
obtained  from  three  sources.  The  most  important 
electric-power  project  is  that  of  the  Bavarian  govern- 
ment for  utilizing  the  water  of  the  Bavarian  high- 
lands for  the  supply  of  electric  light  and  power  to  all 
parts  of  the  country.  The  government  does  not 
plan  to  carry  out  this  scheme  itself,  but  formulated 
the  general  features  of  the  proposal  and  left  the  exe- 
cution of  the  various  works  to  others  with  the  object 
of  securing  co-ordinated  action  and  a  proper  regard 
for  the  public  interest.  Not  only  is  power  to  be 
supplied  for  industrial,  agricultural,  and  domestic 
purposes,  but  several  lines  of  state  railways  are  to 
be  electrified  as  well. 

The  number  of  employees  in  the  imperial  and 
state  service  is  growing  every  year.  In  1908  it  was 
about  3,000,000.  There  were  then  563,684  in  the 
railway  service,  309,026  in  the  posts  and  telegraphs, 
390,005  in  police  and  diplomatic,  and  125,980  in 
forestry  and  game-preserving.1 

Immense  profits  are  realized  from  these  activities. 
In  1908  the  profits  of  the  empire  and  of  the  states 
composing  it  amounted  to  $277,285,095.  In  1911 
the  profits  amounted  to  $282,749,224.  These  earn- 
ings are  used  to  reduce  the  burdens  of  taxation.  The 
combined  federated  states  secure  38  per  cent,  of  their 

1  Berry,  Germany  of  the  Germans,  p.  47. 


THEORY  AND  EXTENT  OF  STATE  SOCIALISM    93 

total  revenues  from  their  enterprises,  while,  including 
the  imperial  government,  one-fourth  of  all  the  cur- 
rent needs  of  the  combined  governments  are  derived 
from  business  undertakings.  Of  the  larger  states, 
Bavaria  secures  39  per  cent,  of  its  revenue  from  in- 
dustrial undertakings,  Wiirtemberg  38.7  per  cent., 
and  Prussia  47.56  per  cent. 

Herein  is  one  explanation  of  the  relative  ease  with 
which  Germany  supports  the  colossal  expenditures 
for  war  and  armament  as  well  as  the  appropriations 
made  in  recent  years  for  internal  improvements. 
With  from  35  to  50  per  cent,  of  the  state  revenues 
obtained  from  industrial  pursuits,  the  task  of  the 
financier  is  greatly  simplified  in  comparison  with 
that  of  surrounding  countries.  When  to  this  is 
added  the  ownership  of  a  controlling  interest  in  the 
Imperial  Bank  and  the  actual  control  of  over  90  per 
cent,  of  the  savings  of  the  people  deposited  in  mu- 
nicipal banks  and  the  postal  system,  the  credit  opera- 
tions of  the  empire  are  still  further  facilitated.  The 
railways  are  part  of  the  state,  as  are  the  express  and 
telegraph  business,  while  the  mines  supply  fuel  at 
the  cost  of  production.  Thus  the  state  is  almost 
self-contained,  so  far  as  its  more  important  functions 
are  concerned.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  am- 
bitious undertakings  of  recent  years  would  have  been 
impossible  but  for  these  contributing  factors,  which 
greatly  simplify  the  problem  and  relieve  the  financial 
burden.  Germany's  military  prowess  would  prob- 


94  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

ably  have  been  out  of  the  question  without  the  aid 
of  these  socialistic  services,  while  her  industrial  and 
commercial  advancement  would  have  been  difficult 
if  not  impossible  of  achievement. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS 

No  single  agency  has  done  more  for  the  develop- 
ment of  Germany  than  the  state-owned  railways. 
They  have  aided  in  welding  the  twenty-six  states  into 
a  nation  and  have  contributed  in  countless  ways  to 
the  upbuilding  of  domestic  industry  and  foreign 
commerce.  Their  strategic  value  in  time  of  war  has 
been  demonstrated  in  the  present  European  conflict. 

The  first  German  railways  were  built  by  private 
capital  under  concessions  from  the  individual  states, 
although  Prussia  had  begun  to  experiment  in  this 
field  as  early  as  1850.  But  private  operation  was 
never  satisfactory  and,  following  the  war  with  France, 
Bismarck  urged  the  acquisition  of  the  railways  by 
the  empire.  At  this  time  the  railways  of  Bavaria, 
Saxony,  Baden,  and  Wiirtemberg  were  for  the  most 
part  owned  by  these  states,  and  they,  jealous  of  the 
ascendancy  of  Prussia  and  appreciative  of  the  value 
of  their  possessions,  declined  to  acquiesce  in  Bis- 
marck's proposal.  But  Bismarck  persevered  in  his 
policy.  He  saw  in  the  railways  a  means  for  the  con- 
solidation of  the  nation  as  well  as  a  military  agency 

of  great  strategic  value.    In  addition,  through  cen- 

95 


96  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

tralized  management,  the  chaos  of  state  and  local 
rates  and  charges  would  be  brought  to  an  end. 

The  refusal  of  the  states  to  transfer  their  systems 
to  the  empire  led  Prussia  to  develop  her  own  system. 
Most  of  the  more  profitable  lines  were  in  private 
hands,  and  by  reason  of  the  monopoly  and  large 
earnings  which  the  companies  enjoyed  they  were 
disinclined  to  extend  their  systems  to  meet  the  in- 
dustrial revival  which  followed  the  Franco-Prussian 
War.  This  and  the  obvious  profitableness  of  the 
railways  led  to  the  appointment  of  a  committee  by 
the  Prussian  parliament  to  investigate  the  whole 
matter,  which  committee  subsequently  reported 
that  it  was  desirable  from  every  point  of  view  that 
all  the  railways  should  be  nationalized. 

Parliament  took  the  first  steps  in  this  direction  in 
1873,  first  by  the  enlargement  of  the  existing  state 
system,  and  second  by  the  acquisition  of  the  lines 
of  a  considerable  number  of  private  companies. 
From  this  time  on  nationalization  was  rapid,  the 
negotiations  for  the  most  part  being  carried  on  in  a 
friendly  spirit,  for  many  of  the  shareholders  were 
agreeable  to  the  sale.  The  original  concessions  to 
the  companies  contained  reservations  under  which 
it  was  possible  for  the  state  to  acquire  the  lines  upon 
a  valuation  ascertained  from  a  capitalization  of  the 
dividends  earned  during  the  ten  years  prior  to  pur- 
chase, or  in  case  the  roads  had  not  been  in  operation 
for  so  long  a  period  then  the  dividends  earned  during 


THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS 


97 


the  preceding  three  years  were  taken  as  a  basis  of 
purchase.  If  no  dividends  at  all  had  been  earned  then 
other  evidences  were  to  be  used  to  ascertain  the  value. 

This  would  seem  to  be  a  generous  basis  for  ac- 
quisition, but  inasmuch  as  many  of  the  roads  were 
acquired  by  the  state  in  the  early  years  of  their 
working,  and  as  their  rates  and  charges  were  subject 
to  regulation,  the  states,  and  especially  Prussia, 
were  often  able  to  buy  advantageously  and  at  a  low 
price.  However,  in  most  instances  the  stockholders 
were  treated  fairly,  and  in  many  instances  preferred 
to  exchange  their  securities  for  those  of  the  state. 

Proceedings  similar  to  those  of  Prussia  were  taken 
by  other  states,  until  at  the  present  time  over  90  per 
cent,  of  the  railway  mileage  of  Germany  is  owned  by 
the  several  states,  the  remaining  10  per  cent,  being 
in  private  hands.  The  latter  holdings,  however, 
are  for  the  most  part  confined  to  unimportant  lines 
and  light  railways.  The  growth  in  mileage  of  the 
states  in  the  empire  from  1875  to  1910  is  as  follows: l 


YEARS 

LENGTH  OF  FULL-GAUGE 
LINES 

LENGTH  OWNED  BY 
STATES 

1875 

17  483  miles 

1880  

21,028     " 

13,888  miles 

1890 

26  136     " 

18,738     " 

1900  

31,049     " 

28,570     " 

1910 

36  894     " 

34,596     " 

As  to  the  general  efficiency  of  the  German  railways 
there  is  no  dispute.     The  service  is  excellent,  the 

1  Dawson,  Industrial  Germany,  p.  50. 


98  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

equipment  is  of  a  high  order,  while  the  comfort  and 
convenience  of  the  public  is  considered  in  every 
possible  way.  Accidents  either  to  passengers  or 
employees  are  of  infrequent  occurrence.  Trains 
arrive  punctually,  while  the  stations  are  spacious 
and  are  usually  among  the  most  imposing  structures 
in  the  city.  Passenger  fares  are  low  and  are  ad- 
justed to  the  purse  of  all  classes,  while  the  profits 
from  operation  are  so  large  as  materially  to  reduce 
the  burdens  of  taxation. 

,  The  Prussian  railways  are  the  best  equipped  and 
best  managed  of  any  in  the  empire,  if  not  in  Europe. 
The  capital  invested  has  increased  from  $370,000,000 
in  1879  to  $2,709,150,000  in  1910.  A  large  part  of 
the  capital  investment  has  been  earned  by  the  rail- 
ways and  devoted  to  the  extension  and  betterment 
of  the  service.  The  net  profits  from  operation,  after 
deducting  interest  on  the  indebtedness  and  making 
ample  provision  for  depreciation  rose  from  $10,000,- 
000  in  1882  to  $140,000,000  in  1906. 

When  the  railways  were  first  acquired  the  fear 
was  expressed  that  the  government  had  entered 
upon  a  hazardous  financial  experiment,  but  W.  H. 
Dawson,  a  thorough  student  of  modern  Germany, 
says  the  transaction  has  proved  to  be  "a  brilliant 
stroke  of  business  if  not  the  most  brilliant  ever  trans- 
acted by  a  modern  state."1  Continuing  he  says: 

"  It  is  in  the  domain  of  railway  ownership  and  ad- 
ministration that  the  state  has  achieved  its  greatest 

1  Dawson,  Industrial  Germany,  p.  55. 


THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS  99 

success.  It  has  been  estimated  that  since  they 
passed  into  the  national  possession  the  German  rail- 
ways have  provided  $750,000,000  of  revenue.  The 
profits  are  perhaps  swelled  by  the  low  wages  paid  to 
inferior  grades  of  labor  and  because  there  are  so  many 
females  in  the  railway  service.  But  the  state  tries 
to  make  up  for  this  by  providing  houses  at  low  rents, 
free  garden-plots,  pensions,  bonuses,  holidays,  etc. 
It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the  wage  ques- 
tion is  still  a  sore  one  and  is  agitated  as  much  as 
possible  under  the  strict  system  prevailing,  which 
allows  no  strikes  in  this  branch  of  the  state  service. 
There  is  always  a  temptation  to  work  the  railways 
for  more  revenue  in  these  days,  but  on  the  whole  the 
governments  keep  well  to  the  front  the  interests  of 
traffic  and  commerce."1 

The  Prussian  state  railways  are  the  most  profitable 
of  any  in  the  empire  and  earn  approximately  8  per 
cent,  on  an  actual  cash  investment  of  $2,700,000,000. 
The  net  profits  from  operation  in  1911  amounted  to 
$178,000,000  or  more  than  twice  the  income  from 
taxes,  which  was  $85,000,000.2  This  sum  went  into 
the  state  treasury  and  reduced  taxation  to  that 
extent  or  was  used  for  other  public  purposes. 

Summarizing  his  opinion  of  the  operation  of  the 
Prussian  state  railroads,  Mr.  Carl  Vrooman  says:3 

"Unquestionably  the  Prussian  state  railways  have 
made  the  best  showing  financially  of  any  government 

1  Dawson,  idem. 

2  Roberts,  Monarchical  Socialism  in  Germany,  p.  4. 

8  Vrooman,  American  Railway  Problems  in  the  Light  of  European 
Experience}  p.  160. 


100  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

railways  in  the  world,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
state  management  has  given  to  the  people  of  Prussia 
the  best  and  safest  transportation  service  on  the 
continent  of  Europe  and  has  charged  for  this  service 
as  little  if  not  less  than  has  any  continental  railway 
system.  At  the  same  time  the  Prussian  state  rail- 
way system  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  has 
brought  into  the  state  treasury  every  year  enormous 
sums  of  money  as  profits.  Indeed  there  is  criticism 
on  many  sides  that  the  results  have  been  too  brilliant; 
that  industry  should  not  be  taxed  to  relieve  general 
taxation. " 

By  1905  the  Prussian  railways  had  paid  into  the 
treasury,  as  profits,  more  than  enough  to  pay  off 
every  cent  of  railway  indebtedness,  including  interest, 
leaving  the  great  system  with  all  equipment  as  a  net 
asset  in  the  hands  of  the  state.  This,  too,  was  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  many  unprofitable  extensions 
have  been  constructed  which  private  capital  prob- 
ably never  would  have  attempted. 

A  paper  read  by  Professor  Herman  Schumaker, 
professor  of  political  economy  at  the  University  of 
Bonn,  in  January,  1912,  before  the  Royal  Economic 
Society,  describes  the  results  that  followed  national 
operation. 

"The  result  of  all  these  economies,"  he  says,  "is  a 
magnificent  one.  The  aggregate  revenue  of  the 
Prussian  State  Railways  has  risen,  during  the  twenty- 
five  years  from  1883-1908,  from  536,000,000  marks 
to  1,910,000,000  marks,  or  from  34,503  to  52,795 
marks  per  kilometre  of  railway  track.  Although 


THE  STATE-OWNED  RAJLWA.YS  101 

the  expenses  both  of  the  staff  and  of  the  stock  and 
plant  have  increased  very  considerably  (the  cost 
per  kilometre  per  axle  was  5.43  pfg.  in  1895  and  7.4 
pfg.  in  1908),  nevertheless  the  gross  working  profits 
have  increased  from  222,000,000  marks  in  1883  to 
548,000,000  marks  in  1908;  so  far,  the  maximum 
obtained  was,  in  1906,  namely  698,000,000  marks. 

"These  extraordinary  working  profits,  which  in 
the  aggregate  amount  since  the  nationalization  of 
the  railways  to  a  total  of  nearly  12,000,000,000 
marks,  have  greatly  benefited  the  Prussian  State 
Railways.  They  enabled  them  to  meet  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  cost  of  construction  of  existing  railways 
out  of  current  revenue.  In  fact,  one  may  say  that 
all  expenses  necessary  for  the  maintenance  and 
preservation  of  railway  property  have  been  met  out 
of  current  revenue.  This  continual  capitalization 
of  the  net  profits  has  rendered  unnecessary  any 
writing  off  to  make  due  provision  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  property.  The  present  aggregate 
value  of  the  Prussian  State  Railways  not  only  equals, 
but  exceeds  the  whole  amount  of  capital  taken  up 
on  loan  by  the  Prussian  State  for  the  purchase  and 
development  of  the  railway  system.  When,  never- 
theless, a  redemption  of  the  loan  has  taken  place, 
and  will  be  further  increased  in  the  future,  that  is 
done  not  for  the  preservation,  but  for  the  augmen- 
tation of  capital.  In  contrast  to  the  overcapitali- 
zation of  many  foreign  railways,  the  object  aimed  at 
and  achieved  has  been  the  undercapitalization  of 
the  Prussian  State  Railways.  This  is  the  solid 
foundation  on  which  the  Prussian  railway  finance 
is  based. 

"But  this  does  not  exhaust  the  financial  success 
of  the  Prussian  State  Railways.  Although,  as  has 
been  pointed  out,  it  was  by  no  means  the  original 


102  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

intention,  railways  have  nevertheless  become,  under 
the  combined  influence  of  the  above-mentioned  fac- 
tors, a  considerable  source  of  revenue  to  the  State. 
A  total  of  nearly  3,000,000,000  marks  has  been 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Prussian  Government 
for  other  State  purposes  out  of  the  surplus  of  the 
railways.  It  is  true  that  in  consequence  of  the 
varying  conditions  of  trade  the  figures  are  liable 
to  great  fluctuations,  and  therefore  involve  certain 
risks  to  the  State,  which  have  not  always  been  met 
effectively  by  the  Prussian  financial  administration, 
but  this  does  not  detract  from  the  momentous 
advantage  that,  thanks  to  its  railways,  the  Prussian 
State  was  in  a  position  to  participate  financially  at 
once  in  the  great  rise  of  prosperity  in  German 
industrial  life.  Hence,  the  fact,  that  Prussian 
finance  presents,  on  the  whole,  such  favorable  con- 
ditions, is  largely  due  to  the  Prussian  State  Rail- 
ways." 

The  railways  of  the  other  states  are  likewise 
profitable,  although,  with  the  exception  of  Saxony 
and  Bavaria,  these  states  contain  comparatively 
few  cities  and  relatively  little  industry.  In  1911 
the  Bavarian  railroads  earned  4.5  per  cent,  on  the 
outstanding  loans;  Saxony,  5.4  per  cent.;  Wurtem- 
berg,  3.4  per  cent.;  and  Baden,  3.8  per  cent.1 

The  proportion  of  the  state  income  derived  (1) 
from  the  railroads,  (2)  from  other  state-owned  prop- 
erty, and  (3)  from  taxes  in  the  more  important 
states  is  indicated  by  the  following  table : 2 

1  Dawson,  Industrial  Germany,  p.  55. 

2  Statistisches  Jahrbuch,  1913,  p.  345. 


THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS 


103 


STATE 

FBOM 
RAILROADS 

OTHER   STATE- 
OWNED  PROP- 
ERTIES AND 
OTHER  SOURCES 
OF  STATE  IN- 
COME 

TOTAL  TAX  RE- 
CEIPTS 

Prussia  

Marks 
539,954,000 

Marks 
118,000,000 

Marks 
495,763,000 

Saxony  

44,608,000 

15,020,000 

90,890,000 

Wiirtemberg  .  .  . 
Baden  

21,281,000 
29,869,000 

21,319,000 
5,479,000 

54,633,000 
57,009,000 

From  the  above  it  appears  that  57  per  cent,  of 
the  income  of  Prussia  is  derived  from  productive 
industries  owned  by  the  state,  and  46  per  cent,  from 
the  railways  alone.  In  Saxony,  29  per  cent,  of  the 
revenue  of  the  state  comes  from  the  railways,  in 
Wiirtemberg,  22  per  cent.,  and  in  Baden,  32  per  cent. 
When  it  is  considered  that  the  income  taxes  are  the 
largest  single  source  of  state  and  local  taxation, 
it  is  easy  to  understand  the  universal  approval  of 
public  ownership  even  in  a  country  as  completely 
governed  by  the  landed  and  capitalist  classes  as  is 
Germany. 

But  the  financial  success  of  the  railways,  re- 
markable as  it  is,  is  of  secondary  importance.  "I 
do  not  regard  railways,"  said  Bismarck,  "as  in  the 
main  intent,  to  be  the  object  of  financial  competition; 
according  to  my  view,  railways  are  intended  more 
for  the  service  of  traffic  than  of  finance,  though  it 
would,  of  course,  be  foolish  to  say  that  they  should 
not  bring  financial  advantages." 

It  is  difficult  to  overstate  the  extent  to  which  the 


104  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

railways  have  contributed  to  the  upbuilding  of 
Germany.  The  casual  traveller  sees  but  little  of 
this,  the  reports  only  scantily  suggest  it,  and  the 
mere  statement  that  the  underlying  motive  of 
operation  is  service,  conveys  but  little  idea  of  the 
extent  to  which  the  industrial  and  social  develop- 
ment of  the  country  has  been  promoted  through  the 
railways.  The  very  life  of  the  nation  is,  in  fact, 
woven  into  the  transportation  agencies,  which  are 
not  operated  as  a  separate,  detached  thing,  but  are 
related  to  every  need  of  the  empire  and  are  con- 
sciously administered  to  serve  its  destiny. 

"  German  railroads,"  says  an  English  observer, 
"have  largely  contributed  to  the  prosperity  of  Ger- 
man industry;  the  British  railways  have  largely  con- 
tributed to  the  decay  of  British  industries.  In 
Germany  trade  policy  is  made  by  trade;  in  Great 
Britain  it  is  made  by  the  railroads,  which,  without 
consulting  the  trade,  prescribe  its  course,  stimulating 
it  here  and  stifling  it  there."  1 

Such  struggles,  as  almost  every  American  city 
has  experienced  in  order  to  secure  even  tolerable 
terminal  facilities,  betterments,  or  service,  are  in- 
conceivable in  Germany.  In  place  of  hostility  and 
conflict,  the  state  anticipates  industrial  and  mu- 
nicipal needs.  The  harbors  and  water-fronts  are 
operated  in  closest  harmony  with  the  railway  ter- 
minals, which  are  planned  as  a  co-operating  unit  in 

1  Eltzbacher,  Contemporary  Review,  February,  1905. 


THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS  105 

the  industrial  programme.  Great  factory  areas 
are  laid  out  with  sidings  and  switches.  The  ap- 
proaches to  cities  are  not  disfigured  with  unsightly 
cuts  and  surroundings;  rather  they  are  sodded  and 
parked  and  made  as  unobtrusive  as  possible.  The 
stations  of  cities  like  Frankfort,  Cologne,  Dresden, 
and  Hamburg,  are  of  splendid  architecture,  with 
artistic  overhead  approaches  which  disfigure  but 
little  the  beauty  of  the  city.  Frankfort,  a  town  of 
400,000  people,  has  a  station  erected  many  years  ago 
at  a  cost  of  $10,000,000,  when  Frankfort  was  a  small 
town.  There  are  no  grade  crossings.  The  tracks 
are  raised  or  depressed  as  necessity  requires.  Every- 
thing is  built  for  permanence  and  with  provision  for 
safety.  There  are  very  few  accidents.  "German 
railway  trains  arrive  nineteen  times  out  of  twenty 
to  the  minute  because  the  government  punishes 
severely  those  responsible  for  the  delay."1 

New  lines  are  built  when  needed,  even  if  they  are 
not  profitable,  for  the  convenience  of  the  people  or 
the  upbuilding  of  an  industry  or  a  territory.  Nor 
do  localities  or  industries  interfere  unduly  with  the 
administration  in  their  efforts  to  secure  favors  or 
special  privileges.  This  is  checked  by  the  active 
participation  of  representatives  of  chambers  of 
commerce  and  agricultural  bodies  in  the  actual 
administration  of  the  system. 

Under  private  operation  the  companies  showed 

1  J.  Ellis  Barker,  Modern  Germany,  p.  460. 


106  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

a  tendency  to  give  low  rates  on  foreign  goods  des- 
tined to  inland  points  because  of  the  competition 
of  the  waterways.  This  policy  was  reversed  by  the 
state,  and  where  discriminations  are  now  made, 
they  are  in  favor  of  German  rather  than  foreign 
shippers.  In  order  to  attract  trade  to  German  sea- 
ports, low  rates  are  granted  on  goods  from  Hungary 
or  Russia,  passing  through  Germany  and  destined 
for  England.  The  nearest  and  most  natural  ports 
for  the  busy  manufacturing  districts  of  Westphalia 
are  those  of  Rotterdam  and  Antwerp,  and  if  railway 
rates  were  fixed  solely  by  distance,  Hamburg  and 
Bremen  would  find  difficulty  in  competing  with  the 
Dutch  and  Belgian  ports,  so  far  as  the  traffic  of 
Westphalia  is  concerned.  The  result  would  be  a 
loss  of  business  both  to  the  German  railways  and 
German  ports  to  the  benefit  of  foreign  railways  and 
foreign  ports.  In  order  to  prevent  this  the  "Prus- 
sian railways  concede  exceptionally  low  rates  from 
various  manufacturing  centres  in  Germany,  and 
especially  in  the  Rhine  district,  for  goods  conveyed 
to  Hamburg  and  Bremen."1 

These  examples  are  indicative  of  the  studied  co- 
operation of  the  railways  with  industry.  Several 
years  ago,  when  there  was  a  poor  fruit  harvest  in 
Holland,  German  fruit-growers  sent  large  quantities 
of  fruit  to  Dutch  preserve  makers,  being  helped  to 
do  so  by  the  exceptionally  low  rates  on  the  Prussian 

1  Pratt,  Railways  and  Nationalization  p.  262. 


THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS 


107 


railways  to  the  Dutch  frontier.  The  next  year 
fruit  was  plentiful  in  Holland,  but  scarce  in  Germany, 
and  the  Dutch  traders  expected  to  profit  by  the  low 
rates  of  the  year  before.  Instead,  they  found  the 
rates  raised  to  a  prohibitive  point  to  protect  the 
German  traders.1  During  the  industrial  depression 
in  1908,  the  railways  lowered  freight  tariffs  64  per 
cent,  in  order  to  encourage  export  trade  which  was 
suffering  with  that  of  other  countries.2 

In  the  same  way  export  trade  is  fostered  by 
lower  rates  on  goods  destined  for  abroad  than  for 
home  consumption.  In  general,  the  rate  on  goods  for 
export  is  as  low  proportionately  for  parcels  as  it  is 
for  carload  lots  shipped  from  one  part  of  the  coun- 
try to  another.  The  following  table  illustrates  this 
difference,  with  regard  to  a  few  representative  lines 
of  goods:3 


IN  10-ToN  LOTS  PER  METRIC  TON 

EXPORT  RATE 

NORMAL  RATE 

Cotton  goods,  Cologne  to  Ham- 
burs 

$3.64 
5.83 

2.53 

$6.38 

9.33 

4.86 

Toys,  Nuremberg  to  Hamburg.  . 
Machinery   and   machine  parts, 
Cologne  to  Hamburg        .    ... 

In  many  cases,  special  rates  are  made  to  encourage 
a  new  industry.  For  instance,  a  man  finds  sand 
which  he  thinks  suitable  to  the  manufacture  of  glass. 

1  Pratt,  supra.  2  British  Consular  Reports,  1899. 

3  E.  Roberts,  Scribner's  Magazine,  February,  1911. 


108  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

He  desires  to  start  a  manufacturing  plant,  provided 
he  can  secure  the  necessary  combination  of  chemi- 
cals, coal,  etc.  He  first  places  the  matter  before 
the  local  Chamber  of  Commerce,  which  in  Germany 
is  a  semiofficial  organization.  If  the  proposal  meets 
with  approval,  a  recommendation  is  made  to  the 
railway  authorities  for  special  rates,  who  make  a 
fresh  examination,  and  if  they  approve  a  special  rate 
is  granted.  In  this  manner  the  industry  of  the 
Siegerland  district  is  stimulated  by  a  reduction  in 
the  rate  on  ore  to  the  Ruhr  and  Aix-la-Chapelle 
districts  and  in  the  rates  for  the  conveyance  of  fuel 
needed  by  the  Siegerland  iron  industry.  In  the 
same  way  the  disadvantage  of  the  inland  position 
of  Lorraine  is  minimized  by  special  railway  rates.1 
In  fact,  66  per  cent,  of  all  the  freight  carried  on 
the  German  railways  is  taken  under  exceptional 
rates,  designed  in  almost  all  cases  to  meet  some  in- 
dustrial need.2  Mr.  Elmer  Roberts  states: 

"All  the  devices  (rebates,  special  rates,  etc.)  so 
passionately  hated  here  (U.  S.)  are  applied  there, 
but  with  this  difference — that  while  in  Ajnerica 
these  devices  are  suggested,  even  necessitated  by 
the  war  of  interests  or  the  will  of  the  individual 
managers,  they  are  applied  in  Germany  according 
to  principles  of  equity  which  take  into  account  in- 
dustry, trade  and  agriculture  as  a  national  whole, 
granting  exceptions,  taking  one  sort  of  traffic  as 
privileged,  another  as  normal,  upon  calculations 

1  Dawson,  Industrial  Germany,  p.  58. 

2  Roberts,  Monarchical  Socialism  in  Germany,  p.  31. 


THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS  109 

wide  enough  to  include  the  interests  of  the  whole 
people. " l 

The  Prussian  minister  of  public  works  stated  in 
the  lower  house  in  April,  1912: 

"I  intend  to  be  always  in  the  first  place  a  Min- 
ister of  Communications,  though,  at  the  same  time 
I  must  as  a  minister  take  account  of  the  financial 
well-being  of  the  state.  Like  Bismarck,  I  regard 
the  railways  as  primarily  a  transport  institution 
and  not  as  a  milch  cow,  and  I  shall  never  administer 
my  department  in  a  purely  fiscal  spirit." 2 

Secret  discriminations  between  individuals  or 
corporations  seem  to  be  unknown  in  Germany. 
Neither  is  one  city  developed  at  the  expense  of  an- 
other, except  in  so  far  as  it  is  to  the  advantage  of  the 
whole  community  to  grant  special  privileges  for  the 
development  of  trade  or  commerce.  The  Prussian 
Cabinet  made  the  following  statement  in  1879  upon 
this  subject: 

"The  granting  of  these  secret  advantages  in  the 
most  diversified  ways  to  individual  shippers,  and 
in  particular  the  so-called  rebate  system,  is  the  most 
injurious  misuse  of  powers  granted  to  railroad  cor- 
porations. It  renders  government  control  of  rates 
impossible,  makes  competition  between  different 
lines,  as  well  as  that  of  the  shippers  dependent  upon 
them,  dishonorable  and  unfair,  carries  corruption 
among  the  railroad  employees,  and  leads  more  and 

1  Roberts,  "German  Railway  Policy,"  Scribner's  Magazine,  Feb- 
ruary, 1911. 

2  Dawson,  Industrial  Germany,  p.  56. 


110  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

more  to  the  subordination  of  the  railroad  manage- 
ment to  the  special  interests  of  certain  powerful 
cliques.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  government  to  oppose 
this  evil,  to  uphold  the  principle  of  the  equal  treat- 
ment of  all  snippers,  and  to  enforce  the  legislative 
regulations  on  this  subject.  The  importance  of  this 
problem  is  only  equalled  by  the  difficulty  of  its 
solution."  1 

Many  special  services  are  performed  to  aid 
shippers.  For  instance,  the  railways  undertake 
to  be  responsible  for  the  delivery  of  a  shipment,  so 
that  when  the  consignor  has  paid  the  freight,  he 
need  have  no  more  worry  about  the  goods  than  if 
he  had  sent  a  stamped  letter  through  the  mails. 
The  railway  also  obtains  for  the  shipper  a  bill  of 
lading  when  the  goods  are  placed  aboard  the  steamer, 
on  which  he  may  receive  his  money.2 

Easily  understandable  tariff  rate-books  for  com- 
bined rail  and  sea  routes  are  prepared  by  the  rail- 
way authorities.  They  are  so  simple  that  any  lay- 
man can  understand  them  and  so  complete  and 
accurate  that  the  merchant  can  tell  the  exact  price 
of  shipment  of  any  kind  of  goods  from  his  city  to  any 
part  of  the  world.3 

Nor  have  the  financial  gains  of  the  state  led 
to  indifference  to  improvements.  "Reduction  of 
freights  and  the  growth  of  profits  have  not  been  at 

1  Frank  Parsons,  The  Heart  of  the  Railroad  Problem,  p.  316. 

2  Roberts,  "German  Railway  Policy,"  Scribner's  Magazine,  Feb- 
ruary, 1911. 

8  Roberts,  Monarchical  Socialism,  p.  26. 


THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS  111 

the  expense  of  technical  improvements.  In  the 
matter  of  size  of  cars,  tunnels,  terminal  facilities,  in- 
troduction of  steel  cars,  etc.,  the  state  railways  of 
Prussia  are  making  greater  progress  than  other  rail- 
ways of  Europe.  Better  equipment  and  improved 
terminal  arrangements  are  being  introduced  side  by 
side  with  the  reduction  of  rates  and  increased  profits. 
Where  the  traffic  is  dense,  special  depots  for  par- 
ticular freight  are  provided,  instances  of  which 
are  the  cattle  depot  and  fuel  depot  of  Berlin.  The 
block  system  is  almost  universal."1  Despite  these 
services,  traders  are  continually  complaining  that  the 
government  is  making  too  much  money  out  of  the 
railroads  instead  of  forwarding  goods  faster,  provid- 
ing more  trains,  etc. 

All  railroad  employees  are  in  the  civil  service. 
There  are  no  political  appointments  or  favoritism. 
The  higher  officials  are  required  to  have  a  university 
or  technical  school  education  before  they  may  even 
take  an  examination  for  the  service.  Engineers 
must  have  had  a  thorough  technical  education  and 
must  have  practised  their  profession  for  eight  or 
ten  years  in  private  employment,  before  they  are 
qualified  to  take  the  second  examinations  required 
by  the  state.2 

Prussia  and  some  of  the  other  states  are  preparing 
plans  for  the  electrification  of  the  railroads.  The 

1  Vrooman,  American  Railway  Probkms  in  the  Light  of  European 
Experience,  p.  122. 

2  Vrooman,  supra,  p.  273. 


112  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

former  state  has  already  electrified  a  portion  of  the 
line  from  Magdeburg  to  Halle.  Power  is  produced 
at  a  central  station  erected  near  the  coal-mines,  and 
the  government  has  made  a  contract  for  cheap 
power  for  thirty  years.  The  improvement  has 
proved  so  successful  that  the  government  is  now 
about  to  electrify  160  miles  of  railway  in  the  Silesian 
hills  district.  The  states  of  Saxony  and  Bavaria 
are  likewise  planning  to  electrify  some  of  their  lines. 
The  Saxon  government  has  bought  coal-mines  at  a 
cost  of  $11,500,000  with  the  object  of  having  at  its 
command  an  abundance  of  cheap  fuel. 

The  policy  of  service  is  followed  in  passenger  as 
well  as  freight  rates.  Low  rates  are  made  from  the 
cities  to  the  suburbs.  Cheap  transportation  is  also 
offered  on  Sundays  and  holidays  in  order  to  carry  the 
people  to  the  country.  Excursion  trains  run  third 
and  fourth  class  coaches  which  are  filled  to  over- 
flowing with  men,  women,  and  their  families  bound 
on  a  holiday.  The  railways  are  used  far  more 
generally  in  Germany  than  in  the  United  States. 
People  ride  more  frequently  and  on  the  whole  more 
universally,  despite  the  higher  standard  of  life  in 
this  country.  In  1901  the  passenger  traffic  per 
kilometre  was  413,820  in  Germany,  as  compared 
with  89,721  in  the  United  States.  The  average 
income  per  mile  per  person  of  the  railways  was 
$.0103  in  the  former  country  and  $.0206  in  the  latter. 
In  other  words,  the  average  fare  per  mile  in  America 


THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS  113 

was  exactly  twice  what  it  was  in  Germany.  The 
average  ton-mile  freight  rates,  however,  are  nearly 
reversed,  the  rate  on  freight  traffic  per  ton  per  mile 
in  Germany  being  $.013  and  in  the  United  States 
$.0076.  It  is  difficult,  however,  to  draw  conclusions 
as  to  the  relative  cost  to  the  shipper  or  the  public 
in  the  two  countries,  because  so  large  a  part  of  the 
railway  freight  traffic  in  America  is  made  up  of  raw 
materials,  like  coal,  iron  ore,  lumber  and  building 
materials,  and  foodstuffs,  which  in  Germany  are 
transported  by  water  at  a  very  low  rate.  A  fairer 
comparison  would  be  by  classified  articles. 

It  is  repeatedly  urged  by  American  railways 
that  the  average  freight  rate  in  this  country  per  ton 
mile  is  very  much  lower  than  in  Europe,  and  that 
while  the  earnings  of  our  railways  in  1910  averaged 
$10,769.40  per  mile,  if  the  European  rate  had  been 
charged,  they  would  have  been  $14,580  per  mile.1 
And  it  is  constantly  asserted  that  the  ton-mile  rates 
in  this  country  are  but  half  what  they  are  in  Ger- 
many. 

Again  it  is  impossible  to  accept  any  single  factor 
in  making  comparisons  of  transportation  costs.  There 
are  scores  of  elements  which  must  be  taken  into 
consideration,  such  as  switching  and  forwarding 
charges,  demurrage,  and  the  like.  As  against  these 
debatable  comparisons  is  the  fact  that  the  total 
traffic  earnings  of  the  American  railways  in  1911 

1 B.  S.  Winchell,  Atlantic  Monthly,  December,  1912. 


114  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

(exclusive  of  passenger  traffic)  was  $2,168,000,000, 
or  $23.35  per  capita,  or  $116.75  per  family  of  five 
persons.  During  the  same  year  the  total  freight 
earnings  of  the  German  railways  were  $516,303,000, 
or  $8  per  capita,  or  $40  per  family  of  five  persons. 
This  is  the  relative  burden  of  railway  freight  charges 
in  the  two  countries.  In  Germany,  freight  trans- 
portation costs  each  person  about  one-third  as  much 
as  it  costs  the  average  American,  despite  the  alleged 
lower  ton-mile  charges  in  this  country.  In  addition, 
it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  German  railways 
contribute  $160,000,000  a  year  in  profits  which  are 
used  for  the  relief  of  taxation,  which  is  included  in 
the  traffic  burden  of  the  German  consumer.  As 
against  this,  however,  there  should  be  deducted  the 
taxes  paid  by  the  American  railways  to  the  State 
and  National  Government  which  taxes  are  not  paid 
in  Germany. 

This  but  indicates  the  difficulty  of  arriving  at  any 
exact  basis  for  the  comparison  of  freight  rates  in  the 
two  countries.  There  are  so  many  factors  involved 
that  are  not  included  in  the  comparison.  It  may 
at  least  be  claimed  for  the  German  system  that  all 
of  the  earnings  go  to  the  state  in  some  form  or  other. 
There  are  no  watered  securities,  no  favored  con- 
tractors, no  semicriminal  financing,  and  no  attempt 
to  exploit  an  industry  or  a  community  for  the  benefit 
of  stockholders. 

I  have  travelled  many  thousand  miles  on  the 


THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS  115 

German  railways  during  the  past  twenty  years  and 
never,  so  far  as  I  can  remember,  were  the  trains 
more  than  a  few  minutes  late  upon  arrival  or  de- 
parture and  I  have  always  been  able  to  secure  a 
seat.  The  average  rate  of  fare  for  a  second-class 
ticket,  which  is  a  better  service  than  the  ordinary 
coach  in  America,  is  1.8  cents,  while  the  third-class 
tickets  average  1.1  cent  a  mile.  The  first-class 
rate  is  2.5  cents  a  mile.  An  additional  charge  is 
made  on  express-trains  which  range  from  6  cents 
to  50  cents,  depending  on  the  distance  and  the  class 
in  which  the  person  travels. 

The  head  of  the  state  railways  in  Prussia  is  the 
minister  of  public  works,  a  permanent  salaried 
official  appointed  by  the  King.  The  principal 
supervisory  authorities  are  the  Bundesrat,  or  Im- 
perial Senate,  and  the  Reicheisenbahn  Amt,  the 
members  of  which  are  appointed  by  the  Emperor. 
The  latter  body  exercises  general  supervision  over 
the  entire  system  and  sees  that  the  various  regu- 
lations and  enactments  are  carried  out. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  railways  are  owned 
by  the  individual  states  the  administration  is  under 
imperial  control.  There  is  no  conflict  between  the 
various  states. 

"The  Constitution  of  1871  provided  for  uniform 
operation  of  the  railways  as  part  of  a  co-ordinated 
system.  That  instrument  specially  reserved  to  the 
Empire  the  right  to  exercise  supervision  over  all 


116  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

the  railways  and  legislate  regarding  them  in  the 
twofold  interest  of  national  defense  and  general 
traffic  facilities.  The  Federal  Governments  are  re- 
quired to  administer  the  railways  of  the  country  as 
a  uniform  system  in  the  interest  of  the  general  con- 
venience and  in  furtherance  of  this  idea  to  con- 
struct new  lines  when  necessary.  Provision  is  also 
made  for  the  interchange  of  through  traffic  and  to 
this  end  for  the  interchange  of  rolling  stock.  The 
central  government  may  construct  or  authorize  the 
construction  of  new  railways  in  any  federal  state, 
even  against  its  will,  and  it  may  even  exercise  the 
right  of  expropriation. 

"Before  nationalization  there  were  600  different 
sets  of  rates  without  counting  preferential  rates 
applying  to  special  cases.  After  long  negotiations 
the  several  state  administrations  have  agreed  upon 
the  rate  question,  and  since  1910  rates  for  passengers 
have  been  uniform  and  those  for  goods  virtually  so. "  1 

In  railway  matters  the  Bundesrat,  or  Senate  of 
the  empire,  acts  under  general  instructions  agreed 
upon  by  the  federated  governments,  and  the  mo- 
tives of  operation  agreed  upon,  are  as  follows: 

(1)  To  assist  internal  industry  and  agriculture 
by  cheapening  the  cost  of  raw  materials  or  equip- 
ment for  production. 

(2)  To  facilitate  export  of  German  products. 

(3)  To  support  the  trade  of  German  commercial 
centres. 

(4)  To  favor  German  railways  against  competing 
foreign  waterways  and  railways. 2 

1  Dawson,  Industrial  Germany,  p.  46. 

2E.  Roberts,  "German  Railway  Policy,"  Scribner's  Magazine, 
February,  1911. 


THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS  117 

General  railway  conferences  are  called  from  time 
to  time  by  the  Bundesrat,  in  which  the  various 
systems  have  votes  according  to  their  respective 
mileage,  there  being  1  vote  for  a  railroad  of  from  31 
to  93  miles;  2  votes  from  93  to  186  miles,  etc.  A 
permanent  rate  commission  prepares  the  business 
for  the  conference.  There  is  a  subdivision  of  mem- 
bership called  the  traders'  committee,  consisting  of 
five  representatives  of  agriculture,  five  of  manufac- 
turing interests,  and  five  of  distributing  and  com- 
mercial interests.  These  are  elected  by  the  cham- 
bers of  commerce  and  the  boards  of  agriculture 
of  the  country,  and  these  fifteen,  together  with  a 
member  from  the  Bavarian  government,  recommend 
to  the  permanent  commission  authoritatively  "any 
adjustment  of  rates  equitably  among  the  zones  of 
traffic  into  which  the  empire  is  apportioned,  so  that 
a  shipper  in  one  part  of  the  country  shall  not  be  at  a 
disadvantage  in  internal  trade  through  his  geographi- 
cal location."  1 

The  central  railway  office  organizes  and  controls 
the  rolling  stock  and  equipment  of  the  railways  and 
serves  as  a  centre  for  administration,  from  which 
technical  improvements  are  initiated,  weighed,  and, 
when  approved,  are  pressed  on  the  railway  ad- 
ministrations of  the  various  states.  There  is  also 
a  series  of  district  advisory  councils,  or  committees, 
composed  of  representatives  of  the  great  economic 
interests.  For  the  rest,  each  state  manages  its  own 

*E.  Roberts,  Scribner's  Magazine,  February,  1911. 


118  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

lines  and,  as  far  as  possible,  regulates  its  policy  ac- 
cording to  what  it  considers  the  best  interests  of  its 
own  population  and  territory.1 

So  far  as  the  shipper  is  concerned,  the  railways  of 
Germany  are  all  one  system.  There  is  no  struggle  for 
traffic,  no  conflict  over  territory,  no  dispute  with  the 
state.  "It  is  a  striking  fact,"  says  Dawson,  "that 
at  present  over  31,000  miles  (in  1907)  of  railways 
(either  railways  belonging  to  the  state  or  private 
lines  managed  by  the  state,  though  mostly  the 
former),  representing  over  six  hundred  million  pounds 
of  invested  capital,  are  working  with  perfect  smooth- 
ness and  success  without  the  aid  of  boards  of  direc- 
tors, private  capitalists,  meetings  of  shareholders, 
who,  as  a  consequence,  are  able  to  employ  their 
activities  in  other  and  more  advantageous  ways."2 

Even  an  exhaustive  enumeration  of  the  service 
activities  of  the  German  railways  gives  but  a  partial 
idea  of  the  extent  to  which  they  contribute  to  the 
industrial  life  of  the  nation.  The  railways  are  an 
integral  part  of  the  empire.  This  is  the  most  im- 
portant thing.  They  function  as  part  of  its  life 
just  as  do  the  roads  and  highways,  just  as  does  the 
circulatory  system  of  the  human  body.  In  place  of 
a  conflict  with  the  nation,  the  states,  and  the  cities 
over  every  possible  question,  the  railways  anticipate 
the  needs  of  the  community  and  provide  for  them. 

1  Dawson,  Industrial  Germany,  p.  53. 

2  Dawson,  Evolution  of  Modern  Germany,  p.  208. 


THE  STATE-OWNED  RAILWAYS  119 

Where  differences  of  opinion  arise,  the  adjustment  is 
on  the  basis  of  the  public  interest,  the  questions 
involved  being  discussed  from  this  point  of  view 
alone.  Instead  of  a  struggle  on  the  part  of  stock- 
holders and  directors  to  secure  the  maximum  of 
profits  or  dividends,  the  struggle  of  the  state  officials 
and  chambers  of  commerce  is  to  secure  the  maxi- 
mum of  service,  either  in  accommodation  to  the 
public  or  in  profits  to  the  state.  There  is  thus  a 
unity  of  purpose,  the  only  debated  questions  being 
those  of  state  policy. 

Another  advantage  arising  from  state  ownership 
is  the  divorce  of  the  railways  from  politics.  There 
are  no  stockholders,  directors,  or  attorneys  in  the 
Reichstag,  the  legislatures  of  the  states,  or  the  coun- 
cils of  the  cities.  They  make  no  campaign  con- 
tributions and  are  not  influential  with  the  press. 
They  carry  on  no  publicity  bureaus  and  maintain  no 
expensive  lobby.  Railway  legislation  is  considered 
with  an  eye  single  to  the  public  service.  This  is  a 
great  gain,  possibly  the  greatest  gain  of  all.  That 
Germany  is  not  inherently  free  from  the  activity 
of  private  interests  in  politics  is  seen  from  the  influ- 
ence of  the  agrarian  or  Junker  class  in  Prussia  and 
the  empire.  It  is  seen  to  a  lesser  degree  in  the  class 
legislation  of  the  big  taxpayers  and  house  owners 
of  the  cities.  The  general  honesty  and  disinterested- 
ness of  the  German  official  is  not  alone  attributable 
to  the  traditions  of  the  country.  It  is  found  as  well 


120  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

in  the  fact  that  much  of  the  privileged  wealth  which 
in  this  country  is  in  private  hands  is  owned  in 
Germany  by  the  state.  This  of  itself  has  excluded 
corrupt  influences  from  public  life  and  in  so  doing 
has  purified  the  source  from  which  much  of  the 
corruption  in  America  has  come. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
CANALS,  WATERWAYS,  AND  FREE  PORTS 

WATERWAY  development,  as  a  means  of  cheapen- 
ing freights  and  the  development  of  inland  centres, 
has  gone  hand  in  hand  with  the  extension  of  the 
railways,  and  in  recent  years  the  waterways  have 
been  receiving  the  greatest  attention.  This  is  re- 
markable in  view  of  the  immense  profits  which  the 
state  receives  from  the  operation  of  the  railways, 
which  profits  have  undoubtedly  been  materially 
reduced  by  water  competition. 

The  programme  of  waterway  development  has 
been  thought  out  for  many  years  to  come  and  on  a 
most  elaborate  scale.  It  includes  the  linking  up  of 
all  the  great  ports  of  ocean  entry  with  the  rivers 
and  inland  centres  by  ship  canals  and  river  systems, 
capable  of  carrying  very  heavy  traffic.  In  addition, 
splendid  harbors  have  been  built  along  the  Rhine, 
and  on  the  North  and  Baltic  Seas,  with  free  ports 
at  Hamburg,  Bremen,  and  Liibeck.  A  network  of 
canals  is  to  unite  the  Rhine,  the  Danube,  the  Oder, 
the  Weser,  and  the  Meuse  of  sufficient  dimensions 
to  carry  large  craft.  Already  the  register  of  canal- 
boats  has  been  raised  from  150  to  600  tons.  Trans- 
portation by  canals  and  rivers  is  closely  integrated 

121 


122  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

with  the  railways  through  splendidly  equipped  ter- 
minals, which  facilitate  the  easy  transshipment 
of  freight  from  one  to  the  other,  while  the  larger 
towns  on  the  rivers  and  ocean  harbors  have  built 
the  most  completely  equipped  docks  and  warehouses 
for  the  development  of  trade  and  industry.1 

Cheap  water  transportation  is  another  explana- 
tion of  Germany's  industrial  progress.  It  has  been 
planned  with  the  same  far-seeing  intelligence  that 
characterized  the  railway  system,  with  which  it  is 
closely  related  in  its  administration.  Some  idea 
of  the  magnitude  of  the  water  traffic  is  evidenced 
by  the  fact  that  while  the  total  goods  carried  in  1911 
upon  the  railways  aggregated  408,879,000  tons,  the 
goods  upon  the  waterways  totalled  76,632,000  tons, 
or  more  than  one-sixth  of  the  amount  carried  by  rail. 
The  total  navigable  waterways  in  the  empire  amount 
to  8,600  miles,  one-fourth  of  which,  or  2,200  miles, 
are  in  canals  or  canalized  streams.  During  twenty- 
five  years  Prussia  alone  has  spent  $250,000,000  on 
canal  undertakings. 

A  comprehensive  imperial  waterway  programme 
was  authorized  in  1905.  It  includes  two  great 
undertakings:  one,  the  Rhine- Weser  project  for  a 
canal  to  connect  the  former  river  with  the  Dortmund- 
Ems  Canal,  from  the  latter  to  the  Weser,  the  en- 
largement of  other  canals,  and  the  canalization  of  the 
river  Lippe,  the  estimated  cost  of  which  was  $62,687,- 

1  See  chapter  IX. 


CANALS,  WATERWAYS,  AND  FREE  PORTS  123 

500.  The  second,  the  Oder  project,  includes  the 
building  of  a  ship  canal  from  Berlin  to  Stettin,  at 
a  cost  of  $10,750,000;  improvements  in  the  water- 
ways from  the  Oder  to  the  Vistula,  at  a  cost  of 
$5,290,000;  connections  with  Breslau,  costing  $4,- 
937,500;  and  various  other  plans.  The  total  esti- 
mated cost  of  these  two  undertakings  is  $83,750,000, 
which  sum,  however,  will  be  greatly  exceeded. 

When  these  projects  are  completed,  the  Rhine 
will  be  connected  with  the  Weser  in  the  east,  the 
Danube  in  the  south,  and  the  Meuse  in  the  west. 
The  rivers  Elbe,  Oder,  and  Vistula  are  already  con- 
nected, and  the  canal  now  being  built  from  the  Rhine 
to  Hanover  will  probably  be  continued  to  the  Elbe. 

Other  proposed  waterways  are  a  canal  from  the 
Neckar  to  the  Danube,  to  cost  $27,500,000,  and  a 
64-mile  canal  from  the  Danube  at  Ulm  to  Lake 
Constance,  to  cost  $20,000,000.  There  are  great 
engineering  difficulties  in  these  projects,  in  the  first 
case  a  difference  in  level  of  900  feet,  and  in  the 
second  540  feet,  but  these  will  be  overcome.  One 
of  the  most  colossal  undertakings  proposed  is  the 
opening  of  the  river  Rhine  to  the  sea  in  German 
territory.  The  Rhine  now  enters  the  North  Sea  in 
Holland,  and  an  enormous  amount  of  German 
traffic  is  handled  at  Rotterdam  and  Amsterdam, 
which  it  is  desired  to  divert  to  German  seaports. 
An  influential  association  has  actively  promoted 
this  idea. 


124  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

The  most  notable  features  in  the  act  of  1905, 
authorizing  the  Rhine- Weser  and  Oder  projects,  are 
the  wide  powers  of  expropriation  of  adjoining  land 
reserved  to  the  government  and  the  provision  for  a 
state  monopoly  of  the  towing  service  on  the  Rhine- 
Weser  Canal  and  its  branches. 

In  view  of  the  improvements  in  transit  facilities 
on  the  main  rivers  (Rhine,  Oder,  Weser)  and  some 
of  their  tributaries,  the  Agrarian  party,  which  has 
opposed  waterway  development  because  of  fear  of 
agricultural  competition,  insisted  that  dues  be  paid 
"on  rivers  regulated  in  the  interest  of  navigation." 
Prussia  promised  this  amendment  without  consult- 
ing the  other  states,  although  it  involved  an  altera- 
tion in  the  constitution,  which  expressly  prohibits 
dues  on  the  natural  waterways  of  the  country.  But 
the  constitution  was  changed  and  the  other  states 
were  induced  to  acquiesce,  Bavaria,  for  example,  by 
the  promised  canalization  of  the  Main.  The  plans 
include  a  river  board  for  each  river,  upon  which  all 
the  principal  interests  concerned  should  be  repre- 
sented, and  the  dues  to  be  charged  were  to  be  uni- 
form on  all  the  rivers.  The  government  claims  the 
purpose  of  the  dues  is  not  to  earn  surpluses  for  the 
state,  but  to  cover  actual  costs  by  an  "inconsider- 
able addition  to  freightage  rates." 

In  the  construction  of  these  great  canal  projects 
"rivers  are  crossed,  ascents  and  descents  of  hun- 
dreds of  feet  are  made  with  facility,  and  ships  lifted 


CANALS,   WATERWAYS,   AND  FREE  PORTS    125 

and  lowered  bodily  in  troughs  instead  of  by  the  old 
and  slow  method  of  locks."  l 

So  comprehensive  is  the  waterway  development 
that  goods  can  be  sent  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rhine 
direct  into  Switzerland  and  the  south  of  France 
in  one  direction,  and  to  Wurtemberg,  Bavaria,  and 
Austria  in  another.  Merchandise  bought  in  Ham- 
burg can  be  despatched  by  river  and  canal  every 
yard  of  the  way  from  that  port  to  Berlin,  or  even 
to  Silesia  in  the  extreme  south  of  Prussia.  The 
canals  have  made  Berlin,  400  miles  from  the  sea, 
a  great  port,  second  only  to  the  North  Sea  ports,  and 
three  cities  on  the  Rhine.  Before  long,  Berlin  will 
be  in  touch  with  the  Rhine  in  the  far  west  and  the 
Danube  in  the  south.  Berlin's  in  and  out  traffic  in 
1910  amounted  to  5,750,000  tons,  to  which  should 
be  added  the  traffic  of  the  suburban  towns,  exceed- 
ing 3,000,000  tons.  Between  Berlin  and  all  the  im- 
portant towns  accessible  by  river  and  canal  regular 
sailings  are  arranged;  e,  <?.,  between  Berlin  and  Ham- 
burg and  Breslau  there  are  several  sailings  a  day 
including,  at  least,  one  express  boat. 

The  importance  of  the  national  waterways  is 
shown  in  the  following  table: 

GOODS  CARRIED  IN  1911— IN  TONS 


TOTAL 

HOME  TRADE 

FOREIGN  TRADE 

Waterways  
Railways 

76,632,000 
408  879  000 

43,304,000 
346  420  000 

34,328,000 
53  870  000 

Dawson,  Industrial  Germany,  p.  68. 


126  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

The  cost  of  shipping  a  ton  of  corn  from  Hamburg  to 
Berlin  by  water  is  about  one-sixth  as  much  as  by  rail. 

The  Berlin-Stettin  Canal  was  opened  on  June 
20,  1914,  in  the  presence  of  the  Kaiser.  It  has  40 
bridges,  one  of  which  carries  the  canal  over  the 
Stettin  railway,  and  4  locks,  rising  altogether  120 
feet,  and  each  lock  capable  of  taking  two  vessels 
of  600  tons  simultaneously.  Later  a  ship  trough 
hoist  will  be  added  if  the  traffic  justifies  the  expense. 
This  new  waterway  is  planned  to  raise  Stettin  to  a 
position  on  the  Baltic  comparable  to  that  of  the 
harbors  of  Hamburg  and  Bremen  on  the  North  Sea. 
The  canal  involves  an  investment  of  $12,500,000, 
and  it  is  estimated  that  3,000,000  tons  of  freight 
per  annum  will  be  shipped  through  it. 

The  waterways  are  used  for  the  handling  of  heavy 
bulk  freight,  such  as  coal,  iron  ore,  lumber,  grain, 
and  the  heavier  articles  of  commerce,  whose  im- 
mediate delivery  is  not  important.  On  these  com- 
modities very  low  rates  are  charged.  And  this  is 
one  reason  why  the  railway  freight  rates  in  Germany 
are  higher  than  in  this  country.  For  the  waterways 
carry  one-sixth  as  much  freight  as  do  the  railways. 
Were  the  heavy  bulk  freight,  which  goes  by  water, 
subtracted  from  the  freight  by  rail  in  America,  and 
a  comparison  made  of  similar  commodities,  it  might 
be  found  that  freight  rates  by  commodities  were  as 
low  in  Germany  as  they  are  in  America. 

The  canals  and  navigable  rivers  are  operated  in 


CANALS,  WATERWAYS,  AND  FREE  PORTS  127 

connection  with  the  railways,  which  are  further 
operated  in  connection  with  the  docks  and  harbors 
in  which  every  provision  is  made  for  the  cheap  and 
easy  transshipment  of  freight  from  one  to  the  other. 
There  is  no  conflict  between  water  and  rail  trans- 
portation; no  conflict  between  the  public  and  private 
owners  over  the  possession  of  the  water-front.  All 
of  these  agencies  are  operated  together  as  a  unit,  for 
the  promotion  of  the  domestic  and  foreign  trade  of 
the  empire.  They  are  all  part  of  a  co-ordinated 
whole. 

The  free  ports  of  Hamburg,  Bremen,  and  Liibeck 
complete  the  transportation  system  of  the  empire. 
They  have  profoundly  aided  the  growth  of  the 
merchant  marine.  They  provide  cargoes  and  make 
these  ports  great  clearing-houses  for  the  trade  of  the 
world.  The  cities  of  Hamburg,  Bremen,  and  Liibeck 
are  among  the  oldest  of  the  free  cities  of  Germany. 
They  controlled  the  Hanseatic  League,  which  in 
turn  controlled  the  trade  of  the  north  for  centuries. 
They  carried  on  wars  of  offense  and  defense.  They 
came  into  the  empire  as  independent  states  and  later 
secured  concessions  which  enabled  them  to  retain  a 
portion  of  their  ancient  trading  advantages  by  grants 
of  authority  to  maintain  free  ports  within  their 
harbors. 

German  statesmen  realized  that  the  carrying  trade 
of  the  world  is  performed  by  those  countries  that 
have  substantially  free  trade.  They  recognized 


128  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

that  water  transportation  will  go  hundreds  of  miles 
to  escape  tariff  barriers.  The  protective  tariff  killed 
the  Spanish  trade;  it  destroyed  the  rich  and  pros- 
perous cities  of  the  Netherlands.  The  abolition 
of  the  Corn  Laws  by  England  opened  up  the  ports 
of  that  country  when  the  ports  of  all  the  rest  of  the 
world  were  closed,  and  brought  to  her  cities  the 
carrying  trade  which  had  previously  been  distributed 
among  many  nations.  And  for  fifty  years  England 
has  been  mistress  of  the  seas  for  the  very  simple 
reason  that  ships  could  come  to  her  ports  without 
the  payment  of  customs  taxes;  they  could  discharge 
their  cargoes  and  find  other  cargoes  awaiting  them 
without  delay.  There  were  no  obstacles,  obstruc- 
tions, or  tariff  barriers  of  any  kind  to  interfere  with 
traffic.  It  is  this  that  has  built  up  her  carrying 
trade  during  the  last  fifty  years.  Her  ports  are 
counters,  or  market-places,  for  the  making  of  a 
million  transactions  and  the  distribution  of  the 
most  diversified  products  of  every  clime.  And 
to-day  the  carrying  trade  of  the  world  is  performed 
by  those  countries  that  have  free;  trade,  or  an 
approximation  of  free-trade  conditions.  They  are 
England,  the  free  ports  of  Germany,  and  the  ocean 
ports  of  Belgium,  Holland,  and  Denmark,  which  are 
low-tariff  countries.  The  bulk  of  the  carrying  trade 
is  done  by  Great  Britain  and  the  German  ports. 
Goods  are  brought  to  these  ports  from  America,  the 
Continent  of  Europe,  from  Asia,  the  Indies,  Africa, 


CANALS,  WATERWAYS,  AND  FREE  PORTS  129 

South  America,  and  the  islands  of  the  seas,  where 
they  are  entered  for  consumption  or  manufacture, 
or  reassembled  for  distribution  again  to  the  places 
of  ultimate  purchase. 

A  description  of  the  free  port  of  Hamburg  indi- 
cates the  operation  of  the  system.  The  free  port 
consists  of  a  large  number  of  basins,  many  of  them 
cut  into  the  land,  with  quays  jutting  out  into  the 
river.  Upon  these  quays  are  railroad  tracks  with 
cranes  for  the  easy  transfer  of  freight  into  the  near- 
by sheds.  In  the  larger  outside  basins  are  many 
mooring  posts  which  provide  anchorage  for  vessels 
transshipping  cargoes  in  the  stream.  A  number  of 
warehouses  are  operated  by  the  authorities  as  a 
part  of  the  port.  Goods  are  stored  in  the  ware- 
houses for  re-export  or  for  ultimate  consignment 
into  Germany  or  other  countries  of  Europe. 

The  free  port  is  considered  as  foreign  territory 
by  the  Customs  Department.  It  is  surrounded  by  a 
customs  line,  guarded  by  customs  officials.  The  line 
is  designated  by  high  iron  palings  along  the  land 
side;  and  along  the  river  is  a  floating  palisade 
guarded  at  either  end  by  customs  officials.  At  the 
land  and  water  entrances  of  the  free  port  are  cus- 
toms booths  at  which  duty  is  paid  on  goods  when 
they  enter  the  harbor  proper. 

All  of  the  harbor  pilots  are  ex  officio  customs  in- 
spectors. Under  their  guidance  ships  pass  to  their 
berths  in  the  free  port  unmolested  by  customs 


130  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

officials.  There  are  no  declarations  of  dutiable 
goods  to  be  made;  no  customs  officials  are  taken 
aboard  with  the  delays  attendant  upon  their  pres- 
ence. When  a  ship  is  cargoed  ready  for  sea,  a  cus- 
toms pilot  takes  her  to  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
There  is  less  hindrance  to  the  free  movement  of  the 
ship  within  the  free  port  than  in  the  ports  of  England. 

The  free  port  contains  a  number  of  industries 
incident  to  the  care  and  feeding  of  employees,  ship- 
yards for  repairs,  and  other  industries  relating  to 
the  outfitting  and  provisioning  of  ships.  Big  river 
barges  of  from  600  to  800  tons  capacity  move  from 
ship  to  ship  for  the  transshipment  of  freight. 

The  free  port  is  controlled  by  public  authori- 
ties, although  it  is  partially  privately  operated  by 
the  warehousing  company  which  has  erected  ware- 
houses upon  public  lands. 

A  number  of  means  have  been  devised  to  facilitate 
the  care  and  handling  of  goods.  Goods  to  be  im- 
ported pay  duty  on  the  spot;  or  the  importer  may 
have  a  running  account  against  a  deposit  made  by 
him  in  the  form  of  government  bonds.  Provision 
is  also  made  so  that  goods  may  be  shipped  with  a 
customs  certificate  to  the  inland  consignee,  who  pays 
the  duty  on  delivery.  Similar  procedure  is  provided 
for  goods  forwarded  in  transit  through  Germany  to 
other  countries. 

By  reason  of  the  free  port,  as  well  as  the  industrial 
development  of  Germany,  Hamburg  has  become 


CANALS,  WATERWAYS,  AND  FREE  PORTS  131 

the  second  seaport  in  the  world.  It  does  more  busi- 
ness than  London  or  Liverpool,  and  is  a  close  second 
to  New  York.  The  total  foreign  commerce  of  the 
port  is  just  short  of  $2,000,000,000.  It  exceeds  that 
of  London  by  $100,000,000  and  far  exceeds  Liverpool 
in  imports. 

Students  of  Germany  are  in  agreement  as  to  the 
value  of  the  free  port  as  an  agency  in  the  country's 
development.  Mr.  Edwin  J.  Clapp  in  his  treatise 
on  the  free  port  of  Hamburg  says: 

"The  first  advantage  of  the  free  port  is  in  facili- 
tating re-exportation;  indeed  the  importance  of  the 
re-exportation  trade  is  large  and,  above  all  else,  led 
to  its  creation.  In  the  free  port  foreign  merchants 
can  maintain  sample  or  consignment  stocks.  Bonded 
warehouses  do  not  offer  the  same  opportunity  for 
unhindered  movement  of  merchandise  within  a  port. 
Everything  must  be  done  under  the  control  of  cus- 
toms men.  In  Hamburg  there  is  no  need  of  counting 
and  verifying  pieces  when  a  re-exportation  is  made. 
A  bonded  warehouse  cannot  offer  the  same  facilities 
for  various  manipulations  necessary  to  prepare  the 
goods  for  the  consumer,  such  as  cutting  wines  and 
mixing  coffees. 

"  Perhaps,  the  chief  advantage  of  the  free  port  lies 
in  the  facilities  it  offers  for  the  rapid  frictionless  dis- 
charge of  ships  with  dutiable  goods,  whether  des- 
tined for  re-exportation  or  shipment  inland. 

u  The  free  port  of  Hamburg  lets  the  Hamburg  mer- 
chants store  their  goods  duty  free,  and  offers  them 
complete  freedom  of  manipulation  for  re-exporting 
them  or  for  sending  them  inland,  as  the  market  die* 
tates." 


132  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

The  free  port  is  one  of  many  marvellous  adjust- 
ments which  Germany  has  made  to  overcome  natural 
or  artificial  limitations  on  her  growth.  It  is  in- 
dicative of  the  far-seeing  intelligence  bestowed  upon 
the  laws  of  trade.  Through  it  many  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  free  trade  are  secured  without  sacrifice 
of  the  protective-tariff  policy.  By  means  of  it,  the 
merchandise  of  the  whole  world  can  be  brought  to 
German  ports  and  there  be  warehoused  for  an  in- 
definite period,  or  it  can  be  reshipped  into  other 
bottoms  awaiting  cargoes  to  some  other  port.  Or 
the  merchandise  can  be  exhibited  in  sample  for 
purchase  by  inland  buyers.  The  free  port  creates  a 
world  terminal,  a  world  market,  a  world  clearing- 
house, the  basis  of  shipping,  of  international  trade 
and  finance,  and  a  great  aid  to  domestic  industry  as 
well. 


CHAPTER  IX 
HARBORS  AND  RIVER  SHIPPING 

A  THIKD  important  factor  in  the  elaborate  trans- 
portation system  of  Germany  is  the  water  terminal  or 
harbor,  with  its  docks,  warehouses,  and  means  for  the 
transshipment,  forwarding,  and  housing  of  freight. 
Adequate  terminal  facilities  are  only  secondary  in 
importance  to  the  means  of  transportation.  Only 
recently  has  this  been  appreciated  in  any  country. 
Belgium  has  built  deep  waterway  canals  to  her  inland 
cities  with  splendid  dockage  and  harbor  facilities, 
while  Manchester,  England,  has  built  a  ship  canal 
to  the  sea  with  a  complete  inland  harbor,  all  under 
public  control.  Germany  has  constructed  the  most 
remarkable  water  terminals  of  any  country.  Tens, 
possibly  hundreds,  of  millions  of  dollars  have  been 
spent  upon  them.  They  are  designed  by  the  best  of 
engineers  and  are  encouraged  by  the  state  authorities. 
The  harbor  is  far  more  than  a  deepened  waterway 
with  projecting  piers  for  the  docking  of  boats.  It  is 
a  completely  equipped  water  and  rail  terminal,  with 
railway  connections,  sidings,  and  switches,  with 
great  cranes,  warehouses  of  all  kinds,  and  an  in- 
dustrial district  close  by,  suited  to  the  development 

133 


134  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

of  industries  which  require  close  connections  with 
transportation  facilities.  Such  water  terminals  are 
to  be  found  wherever  natural  advantages  or  the  in- 
genuity of  the  engineer  could  justify  the  expenditure. 
The  Rhine  cities  have  been  largely  built  up  by  the 
wonderful  harbors,  which  are  to  be  found  from  the 
boundary  of  Holland  to  the  headwaters  of  navigation. 
From  Mannheim,  the  head  of  big  navigation,1  down 
to  Emmerich  on  the  Dutch  frontier,  cities  have 
spent  immense  sums  on  the  development  of  their 
harbors.  There  is  keen  rivalry  between  these  cities, 
each  of  which  tries  to  attract  to  itself  as  much 
of  the  Rhine  traffic  as  possible  and  in  addition  se- 
cure its  raw  materials  and  breadstuffs  cheaply  as 
well  as  a  cheap  export  route.  "Each  of  the  cities 
wanted  to  gain  for  its  forwarders  the  transfer  be- 
tween rail  and  water  for  the  largest  possible  terri- 

1  The  building  of  the  Baden  railway  line  (1846)  from  Mannheim 
to  Basle  killed  at  a  blow  the  Rhine  shipping  above  Mannheim.  This 
could  the  more  easily  be  done  because  above  Mannheim  the  river 
is  more  shallow  and  dangerous  and  traffic  upon  it  paid  higher  rates 
than  below  that  point. 

The  lower  Rhine  was  at  first  also  hard  hit  by  the  railroads  when 
these  showed  themselves  capable  of  carrying  "merchandise  as  well 
as  merchants."  Here  the  traffic  revived,  however,  and  has  indeed 
steadily  grown,  due  in  large  measure  to  the  preponderance  of  bulk- 
goods  traffic,  which  was  then  just  beginning  to  take  an  important 
place  in  German  exports  and  imports.  In  1840,  for  instance, 
we  find  cane-sugar  and  coffee  the  chief  articles  going  up-stream. 
In  1907  the  chief  articles  were  iron  ore  (38.3  per  cent,  of  the  total) ; 
English  coal  (11.4  per  cent,  of  the  total);  and  wheat  (10.5  per  cent.). 
The  chief  articles  going  down-stream  in  1840  were  coal,  37  per  cent., 
and  oak  and  pine,  16.3  per  cent.  In  1907  they  were  German  coal, 

48.8  per  cent.;  sand,  gravel,  etc.,  15.3  per  cent.;  manufactured  iron, 

10.9  per  cent.      In  the  changed  traffic  only  coal  has  held  its  place. 
— -Clapp,  The  Navigable  Rhine,  p.  34. 


HARBORS  AND  RIVER  SHIPPING         135 

tory,  to  win  for  its  warehouses  and  silos  the  widest 
possible  dominion.  "l  The  harbor  and  harbor  facili- 
ties are  not  operated  as  a  source  of  direct  profit. 
Charges  are  low  and  usually  go  toward  expenses  of 
upkeep.  Dusseldorf  has  spent  18  million  marks  on 
her  harbor  and  operates  it  at  a  yearly  loss  of 
400,000  marks.  "Yet  Dusseldorf  thrives  and  is 
the  envy  of  the  older  commercial  and  industrial 
cities  on  the  Rhine;  Dusseldorf  is  able  to  look  be- 
yond the  immediate  receipts  of  a  tax  on  traffic."2 

A  first-class  harbor  must  have  sufficient  water 
area  for  many  boats  to  load  and  unload  at  the  same 
time  and  move  about  without  disturbing  one  another. 
The  harbor  area  is  usually  provided  with  many 
basins  separated  by  tongues  of  land  bearing  rail- 
road tracks,  often  double,  so  that  cars  can  be  loaded 
and  switched  without  loss  of  time.  Quay  walls  are 
usually  built  perpendicular,  so  that  boats  can  come 
close  in  within  reach  of  the  cranes. 

Close  by  the  harbor,  and  operated  in  connection 
with  it,  many  cities  have  provided  an  industrial 
harbor,  Industriehafenj  containing  sites  for  industrial 
concerns.  These,  too,  are  owned  by  the  cities,  the 
sites  being  sold  or  leased  on  easy  terms.  These 
sites  are  particularly  advantageous  for  concerns 
receiving  barge  loads  of  raw  materials.  At  first 
it  was  the  iron  industry,  then  the  chemical,  that 
settled  in  these  harbors,  both  of  which  were  depen- 

1  Clapp,  p.  53.  2  Idem,  p.  121. 


136  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

dent  upon  the  Rhine  traffic.  But  later  the  cheap 
water  rates  attracted  a  great  variety  of  industries 
to  these  harbors.  All  sorts  of  industries  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Mannheim  industrial  harbor  "from 
steam  flour  mills  to  a  mirror  factory."  The  harbor 
and  adjacent  industrial  district  are  situated  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  residence  section,  which 
does  not  suffer  in  consequence  from  the  smoke  of 
the  factory  chimneys. 

"The  harbor  is  administered  as  a  unit  by  the  city 
that  built  it,  not  with  the  purpose  of  making  money 
or  even  expenses  out  of  it,  but  with  the  purpose  of  so 
cheapening  transfer  between  boat  and  rail  that  a 
great  hinterland  can  send  and  receive  goods  over 
the  river  port.  Freight-handling  machinery,  such 
as  cranes  for  package  freight  and  cantilever  hoists 
for  coal,  facilitate  and  cheapen  the  transfer  of  freight. 
Substantial  sheds,  warehouses  and  elevators  on  the 
river  bank  shelter  the  goods  and  ship  them  inland 
by  rail.  Railway  tracks  connect  directly  with  the 
sheds  and  warehouses,  as  with  the  quay  wall  along- 
side which  the  vessels  lie."  1 

The  largest  harbor  on  the  Rhine  is  the  Duisburg- 
Ruhrort  harbor,  which  is  really  a  harbor  group.  The 
harbor  at  Ruhrort,  which  belongs  to  the  state  of 
Prussia,  is  the  most  important  member  of  the  group. 
Ruhrort,  from  its  vicinity  to  the  coal-fields,  was 
destined  to  be  a  coal  harbor,  and  as  soon  as  railway 
connections  were  made  to  the  coal-fields  it  began 

1  Clapp,  p.  120. 


HARBORS  AND  RIVER  SHIPPING         137 

to  take  on  importance  as  a  transfer  point  for  coal 
from  railroad  to  river.  It  was  equipped  with  coal 
tips  for  the  rapid  loading  of  coal  onto  the  river  boats. 
These  tips  can  grasp  twenty-ton  cars  and  tip  them 
till  they  empty  their  contents  down  a  chute  and  into 
the  waiting  barge.  At  present  the  harbor  possesses 
eleven  of  these  tips,  each  capable  of  loading  2,000 
tons  in  ten  hours.  Improvements  in  the  harbor 
have  been  paid  for  out  of  harbor  dues  since  1868, 
when  the  Ruhr  tolls  were  abolished. 

The  other  members  of  the  Duisburg-Ruhrort  group 
are  the  municipal  harbor  of  Duisburg  and  the 
railroad  harbors  at  Hochfeld  and  Ruhrort,  the  two 
latter  passing  over  to  the  state  with  the  railways 
when  the  roads  were  transferred  to  state  ownership. 
In  1905,  as  the  result  of  an  agreement  between 
Duisburg  and  its  rival  Ruhrort,  all  the  harbors  of 
the  group,  except  Hochfeld,  came  under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  administration  of  the  Duisburg-Ruhrort 
harbors.  In  1907  the  water  traffic  of  this  harbor 
group  was  31  million  tons,  as  great  as  Hamburg's 
seaward  traffic. 

In  the  harbors  of  Mannheim  and  Ludwigshafen, 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  river  Rhine  and  at  the  head- 
water of  big  navigation,  we  have  a  group  similar  to 
that  of  Duisburg-Ruhrort.  The  two  cities  are  directly 
opposite,  Mannheim  in  Baden  and  Ludwigshafen 
in  the  Bavarian  Palatinate,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
river.  This  group,  which  includes  also  the  harbor 


138  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

of  Rheinau,  on  the  southern  outskirts  of  Mannheim, 
has  a  total  area  of  500  acres  and  a  river  commerce 
of  10,000,000  tons  (1907).  The  Mannheim  harbor 
was  built  by  the  state  of  Baden  (except  the  industrial 
harbor  belonging  to  the  city)  and  acts  as  a  feeder 
for  its  railways.  The  state  not  only  charges  no  dues 
in  its  harbor,  but  charges  the  lowest  freight  rates  on 
goods  transshipped  at  Mannheim.  Mannheim  has 
gained  materially  through  its  harbor.  "In  the  five 
years  1899-1904,  in  spite  of  the  bad  times,  Mannheim 
had  through  its  industrial  harbor  increased  its  taxes 
by  6  million  marks  and  its  laboring  population  by 
1,000  persons. "  Mannheim  has  a  river  traffic  about 
twice  the  seaward  traffic  of  Bremen. 

Between  Duisburg  and  Mannheim  many  other 
cities  on  the  Rhine  have  built  or  modernized  their 
harbors.  Among  them  are  Crefeld,  Miihlheim, 
Cologne,  Dusseldorf,  Worms,  and  above  Mannheim, 
Carlsruhe  (which  with  its  shipments  of  lumber  from 
the  Black  Forest  has  become  the  chief  lumber  ex- 
porting city  on  the  Rhine),  Frankfort  and  Offenbach 
(on  the  Main),  and  Strasburg,  to  mention  only  the 
more  important.  The  rivalry  between  these  cities 
compels  them  to  adopt  the  latest  improvements  in 
harbor  equipment.  This  is  why  the  Rhine  harbors 
are  the  finest  river  harbors  in  the  world. 

Most  of  the  goods  traffic  on  the  Rhine  is  up-stream, 
in  the  shape  of  foodstuffs  or  raw  materials  for  in- 
dustry. Many  of  the  boats  going  up-stream  loaded 


HARBORS  AND  RIVER  SHIPPING         139 

come  down  empty.  This  means  very  low  water 
rates  for  manufactures  that  can  be  exported  over 
this  route.  The  relation  of  Germany's  imports  to 
exports  along  the  Rhine  was  1  to  3  in  1840.  In  1907 
the  proportion  was  2^  to  1.  "The  r;ver  has  be- 
come the  route  that  furnishes  a  great  industrial  na- 
tion cheaply  with  its  raw  products  and  foodstuffs/' 
says  Clapp.1  Iron  ore  and  grain  form  two-thirds  of 
the  imports  up  the  Rhine.  In  1907,  59  per  cent, 
of  Germany's  imported  iron  ore  came  over  the  Rhine 
route;  64  per  cent,  of  her  imported  wheat  and  spelt, 
and  45  per  cent,  of  her  rye.  Only  one-fourth  of  her 
exported  coal,  however,  went  down  the  Rhine,  al- 
though coal  forms  one-half  of  the  total  goods  sent 
down-stream. 

In  1907  the  total  traffic  on  the  Rhine  amounted  to 
64.5  million  tons,  of  which  41.4  million  tons  passed 
through  German  Rhine  harbors.  The  traffic  on  the 
Rhine  passing  the  German  border  station,  Emmerich, 
increased  400  per  cent,  from  1885  to  1907.  Most 
of  this  was  moved  up-stream  (28.9  million  tons). 
Two-thirds  of  the  German  Rhine  traffic  consists  of 
exports  and  imports  from  foreign  countries,  and 
only  one-third  is  internal  traffic.  The  chief  articles 
sent  down-stream  are  manufactured  iron,  soda,  salt, 
stone,  sand,  gravel,  and  brick.  The  discrepancy  be- 
tween the  amounts  of  goods  imported  and  exported 
on  the  Rhine  is  not  so  great,  however,  when  we  con- 

1  Clapp,  supra,  p.  48. 


140  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

sider  value  rather  than  tonnage,  as  the  down-stream 
traffic  includes  many  manufactured  articles. 

The  floating  stock  on  the  Rhine  has  been  con- 
tinually modernized.  Barges  now  have  a  capacity 
of  between  1,500  and  3,000  tons  and  are  made  of 
steel.  Tugboats  can  usually  pull  up-stream  a  barge 
train  of  6,000  tons.  Great  navigation  companies 
of  long  standing  and  merit  operate  through  lines 
from  upper  Rhine  ports  to  the  sea  harbors,  and  have 
agents  in  important  inland  cities  who  collect  and 
distribute  freight  transshipped  between  river  and 
rail  at  Mannheim  and  other  Rhine  ports.1 

The  harbor  groups  of  Duisburg-Ruhrort  and 
Mannheim  handle  between  them  75  per  cent,  of  the 
total  traffic  of  the  German  Rhine  ports,  or  'about 
31.4  million  tons  out  of  41.4  million  tons  (1907). 
Duisburg-Ruhrort  is  the  great  bulk-goods  harbor. 
Ninety  per  cent,  of  its  traffic  in  1907  consisted  of  iron 
ore,  grain,  and  wood  arriving;  and  coal,  coke,  pig 
and  manufactured  iron  departing.  The  remaining 
10  per  cent,  of  its  traffic  is  made  up  of  sand,  ore, 
cement,  stone,  and  fertilizer.  This  is  the  doorway 
through  which  the  Rhenish- Westphalian  industrial 
district  receives  its  raw  materials  and  the  grain  for 
its  workers,  and  through  which  it  ships  its  products 
of  coal,  coke,  and  iron.  The  water  traffic  of  Duis- 
burg-Ruhrort has  grown  steadily  and  is  now  (1907) 
greater  than  that  of  any  other  German  river  harbor. 

1  Clapp,  supra,  p.  121. 


HARBORS  AND  RIVER  SHIPPING          141 

Mannheim  lies  354  miles  up  the  river  from  Rotter- 
dam. It  is  still  the  head  of  navigation  for  six  months 
of  the  year.  It  serves  a  great  territory,  its  hinter- 
land extending  far  east  into  Baden,  Wiirtemberg, 
Bavaria,  western  Tyrol,  and  Switzerland  and  west 
to  the  French  border.  The  reason  its  influence  does 
not  extend  farther  into  France  is  that  the  French 
government  lays  a  special  tax  on  goods  received 
through  a  foreign  harbor.  Mannheim  supplies  these 
districts  with  coal,  coke,  grain,  and  petroleum.  But 
more  particularly,  Mannheim  is  the  piece-goods 
harbor,  with  a  great  diversity  of  traffic.  Besides 
grain  and  raw  materials,  it  receives  valuable  articles 
of  consumption,  such  as  coffee,  fruit,  wine  and  to- 
bacco, and  machines  for  factories.  The  threads  of 
inland  communication  over  the  South  German  rail- 
ways concentrate  in  Mannheim,  which  is  the  trans- 
fer point  between  cheap  and  expensive  means  of 
communication  for  large  parts  of  South  Germany 
and  Switzerland. 

The  Mannheim  harbor  has  received  state  support 
from  the  beginning  and  has  been  specially  fortunate 
in  its  co-operation  with  the  railways.  Indeed  the 
harbor  of  Mannheim  itself  (except  the  industrial 
harbor) — the  oldest  and  most  important  of  the  group 
of  harbors  at  this  point — was  built  by  the  Baden 
state  railways,  which  give  their  lowest  rates  to 
goods  transshipped  at  Mannheim.  These  rates  hold 
good  not  only  for  goods  immediately  sent  forward 


142  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

but  also  for  goods  stored  in  the  warehouses,  silos, 
and  magazines,  thus  encouraging  a  large  whole- 
sale trade  in  the  city.  In  the  city  itself  is  an  indus- 
trial harbor,  which  Mannheim  began  to  build  in 
1897  and  completed  six  years  later.  It  is  about 
1,500  metres  long  and  has  a  maximum  width  of  300 
metres.  The  sites  in  this  harbor  were  immediately 
occupied,  a  considerable  part  of  the  city's  chemical 
factories,  as  well  as  metal  furniture  and  instrument 
factories,  are  situated  upon  it.  These  demand  great 
quantities  of  coal  and  iron  pyrites.  They  send  a 
variety  of  products  down-stream,  which  naturally 
has  an  effect  in  lowering  the  water  rate  up-stream. 
Simultaneously  with  the  building  of  the  "Indus- 
triehafen"  went  the  laying  out  of  a  network  of 
railway  connections.  More  than  50  kilometres 
of  track  have  been  laid  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
quays.1 

Ludwigshafen,  opposite  Mannheim,  was  simi- 
larly built  by  the  railways  of  the  Bavarian  Palatinate 
"to  give  that  city  a  chance  in  the  great  transship- 
ment traffic  at  the  head  of  navigation. "  But  most 
of  its  business  is  carried  on  by  Mannheim  people. 
The  harbor  at  Rheinau,  just  south  of  Mannheim, 
was  built  by  private  persons,  though  its  adminis- 
tration is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Baden  rail- 
ways.1 

1Emile  Egger,  in  Revue  des  Sciences  politiquest  January- June, 
1913. 


HARBORS  AND  RIVER  SHIPPING         143 

The  traffic  of  this  group  of  harbors  has  grown  at 
the  following  rates : 

Mannheim:       1870 41,000  tons 

1893 2,200,000     " 

1901 5,145,000    " 

1909 6,085,000    " 

Rheinau:  1901  562,000  tons 

1903  1,011,000     " 

1909  1,797,000    " 

Ludwigshafen :  1870 135,000  tons 

1909 2,178,000    " 

Care  is  taken  to  protect  the  waterways  from  un- 
fair and  killing  competition,  such  as  was  adopted 
by  the  railways  in  this  country  against  the  canals. 
"In  Germany  private  railroads  did  not  long  con- 
tinue to  employ  the  methods  we  know  so  well  hi 
their  efforts  to  paralyze  the  competition  of  the 
Rhine:  refusal  of  prorating  agreements,  refusal  of 
transfer  facilities,  unfair  rates  for  working  with  the 
river  as  compared  with  their  rates  for  working 
against  it."1  The  railroads  were  bought  up  by 
the  state  in  the  seventies.  When  the  state  roads 
found  themselves  prospering,  and  making  large  sur- 
pluses, they  did  not  reduce  rates  all  around,  but 
rather  turned  the  surpluses  over  to  the  state  as 
revenue,  which  the  state  has  come  to  depend  on. 

"If  reductions  of  the  Prussian  rates  in  general 
are  prevented  by  financial  considerations,  reductions 
in  these  rates  for  the  sake  of  exterminating  water- 

1  Clapp,  supra,  p.  119. 


144  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

way  competition  are  still  more  efficaciously  pre- 
vented. The  waterway  interests  are  represented  in 
Parliament  as  are  the  exporting  interests,  dependent 
on  the  cheaper  waterway  transportation.  The  pub- 
licity of  government  rates  makes  it  impossible  for 
the  railway  officials  to  exercise  any  judgment  in 
the  matter.  Rates  tending  directly  to  incapacitate 
the  waterways  would  be  regarded  as  a  measure 
against  the  good  of  the  country.  The  waterways 
and  the  harmonious  relations  which  the  railways 
are  compelled  to  have  with  them  are  a  counter- 
balance against  the  generally  fiscal  policy  of  the 
state  railways. " l 

It  is  this  co-operation  between  rail  and  water  that 
has  done  so  much  in  encouraging  the  cities  on  the 
Rhine  to  build  water  terminals. 

In  France,  where  the  railroads  are  for  the  most 
part  in  private  hands,  the  situation  is  very  different. 
The  waterways  are  almost  completely  cut  off  from 
the  railways;  that  is,  only  an  insignificant  amount 
of  goods  is  transferred  from  one  to  the  other.  Ri- 
valry between  water  and  rail  way  causes  this  situa- 
tion, which  is  unfavorable  to  industry  and  com- 
merce. In  England  the  railway  companies  bought 
up  the  canals  long  ago  and  put  them  out  of  service. 
Our  own  Mississippi,  which  might  have  played  a 
part  similar  to  the  Rhine's,  has  been  prevented  from 
doing  so  by  the  railways,  "  which  have  not  only  dis- 
criminated against  the  river  in  rates,  but  have  re- 
fused transfer  facilities  and  have  often  bought  up 

1  Ckpp,  p.  120. 


HARBORS  AND  RIVER  SHIPPING         145 

the  land  along  the  river  bank,  so  that  no  rival 
railroad  could  work  with  the  river.  "x 

In  1906  the  traffic  on  the  entire  Mississippi  River 
system  (16,000  miles)  was  19.5  million  tons,  which 
represents  a  decrease  of  31  per  cent,  from  the  traffic 
in  1889.  The  traffic  on  the  Rhine  passing  Emmerich 
had  increased  about  400  per  cent,  during  the  same 
period.2 

1  Clapp,  supra,  p.  68.  *  Idem,  p.  123. 


CHAPTER  X 
MINES,  FORESTS,  AND  AGRICULTURAL  LANDS 

ONLY  second  in  importance  to  the  railways  and 
waterways  are  the  many  other  industries  operated 
by  the  empire  and  the  individual  states.  These 
include  coal  and  iron  mines,  great  landed  estates 
and  forest  preserves,  as  well  as  many  purely  com- 
mercial undertakings.  The  various  kingdoms,  cities, 
and  communities  have  owned  great  landed  estates 
from  very  early  times.  Those  of  the  towns  and 
villages  are  survivals  of  the  communal  ownership 
of  land,  which  was  very  general  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
while  the  agricultural  estates  and  forests  of  the 
states  were  the  domain  lands  of  individual  Kings 
and  princes,  who  in  many  instances  were  the  strong- 
est of  the  feudal  proprietors  within  their  territory. 
The  King  was  a  great  estate  owner,  and  differed 
from  the  lesser  nobility  in  being  the  largest  pro- 
prietor in  the  kingdom.  And,  fortunately  for  the 
nation,  these  estates  were  not  squandered  or  given 
away  to  favorites  as  in  England;  nor  were  they  con- 
fiscated by  revolution  and  sold,  as  in  France.  The 
agricultural,  forestry,  and  mining  possessions  of  the 
various  states  had  their  origin  in  these  hereditary 

146 


MINES,  FORESTS,  AGRICULTURAL  LANDS     147 


possessions,  to  which  the  public  has  wisely  retained 
ownership. 

The  following  table  indicates  the  extent  and  value 
of  the  mining  properties  of  Prussia  alone  (1911): l 


SUBSTANCES 
EXTRACTED 

No.  OP 
MINES 

PRODUCTION 
TONS 

No.  OF 

WORKERS 

VALUE  IN 
MARKS 

Oil  

22 

19,708,974 

88,751 

224,902,290 

Lignite  (coal)  .  .  . 
Iron,   lead,   zinc, 
copper,  silver. 
Potash         ...    . 

5 

5 
5 

340,260 

119,802 

585,785 

470 

3,304 
1,772 

1,084,620 

12,017,889 
7,555,340 

Calcaire  

3 

585,785 

1,124 

2,829,411 

Salines 

5 

122,937 

803 

3,414  264 

Amber  

1 

391 

1,043 

2,137,778 

46 

21,463,934 

97,267 

253,941,592 

At  the  present  time  the  domain  lands  of  Prussia 
exceed  1,000,000  acres.  Nearly  150,000  acres  have 
been  added  between  1903  and  1906.  The  most 
important  holdings  are  in  the  eastern  provinces, 
in  which  the  holdings  are  as  follows:  Pomerania, 
161,577  acres;  East  Prussia,  149,735;  Brandenburg, 
134,950;  and  West  Prussia,  130,185.  The  other 
states  are  also  large  landowners,  Saxony  having 
domain  lands  of  123,257  acres.  Additions  are  con- 
stantly being  made  to  these  holdings.  Land  in 
the  neighborhood  of  towns,  which  has  risen  in  value, 
is  frequently  sold  and  the  profits  reinvested  in 
cheaper  lands  in  the  country  districts,  with  the 
result  that  the  state  not  only  extends  its  domains, 

1L3 Exploitation  des  Mines  dans  le  Royaume  de  Prime,  by  O. 
Henry-Gre'ard,  chapter  I. 


148  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

but  it  does  so  through  the  increase  in  land  values 
and  at  no  expense  to  the  treasury. 

The  state  lands  are  used  as  experiment  stations,  to 
teach  the  neighboring  farmers  the  latest  ideas  in  ag- 
riculture. Where  the  land  is  leased,  it  is  usually  for 
an  eighteen-year  period,  and  a  high  standard  of  cul- 
tivation is  expected  of  the  lessee.  The  management 
of  the  farms  by  the  state  is  on  a  strictly  business 
basis.  There  is  no  philanthropy  in  its  dealings, 
the  state  being  not  unlike  a  private  landlord  in  its 
relation  to  the  tenants. 

Forests  have  also  been  owned  by  the  states 
and  cities  from  early  times.  About  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century  a  great  impetus  was  given 
to  the  acquisition  of  forests  by  a  fuel  scarcity. 
There  was  no  coal  at  that  time,  no  oil,  and  com- 
paratively little  peat,  and  during  a  succession  of 
severe  winters  there  was  much  suffering.  As  a 
consequence,  many  of  the  state  governments  formu- 
lated forest  policies,  the  motives  of  which  were  to 
secure  a  sustained  yield  of  wood  and  timber.  It 
was  then  established  as  a  policy  that  no  more  wood 
should  be  cut  than  was  produced  in  a  given  year. 
Later,  when  coal  was  discovered,  the  necessity  for  a 
fuel  policy  ceased,  but  the  policy  of  forest  conser- 
vation had  become  established  and  was  continued 
for  other  reasons.  To-day  barely  one-half  of  the 
forests  are  in  private  hands;  one-third  belongs  to 
the  individual  states,  and  one-sixth  to  the  locaJ 


MINES,  FORESTS,  AGRICULTURAL  LANDS     149 

communities.  The  forests  are  managed  by  state 
foresters,  trained  in  special  schools  of  forestry. 
From  this  source  a  large  revenue  is  derived  for  the 
relief  of  taxation. 

Professor  William  Lazenby,  a  forestry  expert, 
says  of  the  German  forests: 

"It  is  small  wonder  that  the  art  of  forestry  has 
reached  a  stage  of  intensive  development  that  no 
other  nation  can  rival.  .  .  .  Through  generations  of 
practical  tests  and  experiments,  with  many  failures 
at  first  but  with  a  persistency  worthy  of  the  cause 
and  characteristic  of  the  race,  German  sylviculture 
has  attained  a  high  degree  of  perfection.  Probably 
no  state  has  developed  a  more  intensive  forest  sys- 
tem or  has  done  more  to  place  forestry  on  a  sound- 
financial  basis  than  Saxony.  The  average  rate  of 
revenue  from  all  the  state  forests  of  Saxony  is  2J^ 
per  cent.  They  have  grown  in  value  for  the  past 
100  years  at  an  annual  rate  of  3  per  cent.,  so  that 
the  total  income,  counting  both  cash  returns  and 
latent  revenue  is  5J^  per  cent."  1 


In  a  report  issued  by  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  it  is  stated: 

"Forest  experts  of  all  nationalities  agree  that 
Germany  is  in  an  enviable  position  as  regards  her 
lumber  supply.  No  nation  in  the  world  makes 
more  thorough  utilization  of  its  forest  resources. 
German  forestry  is  remarkable  in  three  ways  :  it  has 
always  led  in  scientific  thoroughness,  and  now  it  is 
working  out  results  with  an  exactness  almost  equal 
to  that  of  the  laboratory;  it  has  applied  this  scien- 

1  Popular  Science  Monthly,  December,  1913. 


150  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

tific  knowledge  with  the  greatest  technical  success; 
and  it  has  solved  the  problem  of  securing,  through 
a  long  series  of  years,  an  increasing  forest  output 
and  increasing  profits  at  the  same  tune.  Start- 
ing with  forests  that  were  in  as  bad  shape  as  many 
of  our  own  cut-over  areas,  Germany  raised  the 
average  yield  of  wood  per  acre  from  twenty  cubic 
feet  in  1830  to  seventy-five  cubic  feet  in  1908. 
During  the  same  period  it  trebled  the  proportion 
of  saw  timber  secured  from  the  average  cut,  which 
means,  in  other  words,  that  through  the  practice 
of  forestry  the  timberlands  of  Germany  are  of  three 
times  better  quality  to-day  than  when  no  system 
was  used.  In  a  little  over  half  a  century  it  increased 
the  money  returns  from  an  average  acre  of  forest 
sevenfold,  and  to-day  the  forests  are  in  better  con- 
dition than  ever  before." 

The  kingdom  of  Prussia  alone  realizes  over  100,- 
000,000  marks  net  a  year  from  her  cultivated  forests. 

The  mines  are  situated  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  Amber  comes  from  the  rivers  of  the 
Baltic  and  East  Prussia,  lead  from  Silesia,  and  zinc 
from  the  Harz.  In  addition,  quarries,  porcelain 
factories,  smelting-works,  mills,  bathing  establish- 
ments, foundries,  and  other  activities  have  been  de- 
veloped by  the  individual  governments. 

Under  the  German  law  mineral  resources  are  re- 
galia, as  they  were  in  the  Roman  Empire,  it  being 
the  prerogative  of  the  state  to  preserve  or  exploit 
the  mineral  resources  in  the  manner  and  at  a  rate 
best  suited  to  the  common  welfare.1  In  line  with 

1  Doctor  Jung-Hermsdorf,  Engineering  Magazine,  March,  1911. 


MINES,  FORESTS,  AGRICULTURAL  LANDS    151 

this  principle,  Prussia  enacted  a  law  in  1907  pre- 
serving to  the  state  the  exclusive  right  of  searching 
and  mining  coal  and  salts,  while  a  similar  measure 
extended  the  power  of  the  state  still  further  and 
empowered  it  to  take  over  any  discovery  of  mineral 
resources  on  private  lands  at  a  fixed  valuation.1 

This  policy  of  state  control  over  mineral  lands 
relates  back  to  early  times.  For  hundreds  of  years 
the  lords  of  the  manor  extracted  minerals  from  their 
lands.  In  addition,  in  Silesia  and  the  Harz,  the 
princes  had  reserved  to  themselves  all  mineral  rights 
upon  their  property.  When  they  were  dispossessed 
of  their  holdings,  the  mines  passed  to  Prussia  and 
were  lodged  in  her  public  domain,  where  some  of 
them  still  remain.  The  law  of  1907  was  designed 
to  restore  to  the  state  the  right  to  explore  for  coal, 
rock  salt,  potash,  magnesium,  etc.,  as  a  corrective 
of  the  power  of  private  monopoly,  which  was  rapidly 
controlling  these  fields.  Under  this  law  the  sole 
right  to  open  new  mines  in  most  parts  of  the  king- 
dom is  reserved  to  the  state,  private  enterprise  in 
these  fields  being  dependent  upon  state  approval, 
which  is  granted  under  such  conditions  as  the  de- 
partment of  mines  may  impose.2 

Under  these  various  laws  Prussia  has  become 
one  of  the  largest  coal  operators  in  the  kingdom. 
It  now  produces  25  per  cent,  of  the  Upper  Silesian 

1  Roberts,  Monarchical  Socialism  in  Germany,  p.  5. 

2  Dawson,  Evolution  of  Modern  Germany,  p.  206. 


152  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

coal  output  and  more  than  one-half  of  the  output 
in  the  Saarbrucken  fields.  It  has,  however,  no 
independent  ownership  in  Westphalia,  the  centre 
of  the  coal-mining  industry.  Several  years  ago  the 
government  came  into  conflict  with  the  Westphalian 
syndicate  in  its  desire  to  have  representation  in  the 
coal  operations  of  that  region.  In  order  to  secure 
this  participation,  Prussia  determined  to  buy  a  con- 
trolling interest  in  the  shares  of  the  Hibernia  Coal 
Company,  which  mines  7  per  cent,  of  all  the  coal  in 
the  Rhine-Westphalian  district.  Shares  in  this 
company  were  purchased  through  the  Dresdener 
Bank,  until  a  majority  of  the  capitalization  had 
been  acquired.  The  announcement  of  this  purchase 
so  angered  the  owners  that  they  increased  the  capi- 
talization and  issued  new  shares  to  themselves,  in 
order  to  reacquire  a  majority  of  the  holdings.  The 
matter  was  taken  into  the  courts,  but  ultimately 
the  government  yielded  in  the  controversy. 

There  is  strong  sentiment  in  Prussia  for  the  com- 
plete nationalization  of  the  coal-mines,  which  is  ad- 
vocated by  many  leading  economists,  like  Wagner 
and  Schmoller.  As  it  is,  the  state  produces  about 
20,000,000  tons  of  coal  annually,  or  about  10  per 
cent,  of  the  total  output,  which  is,  however,  almost 
completely  absorbed  in  the  state  iron  and  steel 
works,  by  the  railroads,  the  navy,  and  other  public 
institutions.  For  these  reasons  the  state  has  exer- 
cised but  little  influence  as  a  competitor  in  this 


MINES,  FORESTS,  AGRICULTURAL  LANDS    153 

field.  In  the  administration  of  the  mines  the  govern- 
ment follows  regular  commercial  methods.  It  charges 
current  prices  for  its  output,  the  same  as  the  private 
operators,  and,  in  consequence,  exercises  but  little 
restraint  on  the  coal  monopoly. 

Prussia  has  been  a  dominant  factor  in  the  pro- 
duction of  potash  since  1879,  in  which  year  a  syn- 
dicate was  organized  under  the  direction  of  the 
state  and  two  private  concerns.  The  syndicate 
later  enlarged  the  field  of  its  operations  by  the 
opening  of  fresh  mines.  In  the  management  of 
this  syndicate  a  Prussian  official  is  chairman. 

The  agreements  as  to  price  control  of  the  potash 
syndicate  expired  in  June,  1909,  and  could  not  be 
renewed  because  one  of  the  more  powerful  members 
believed  that  more  money  could  be  made  by  the 
operation  of  the  private  mines  to  their  fullest  ca- 
pacity. When  it  became  evident  that  a  working 
agreement  was  impossible,  the  Prussian  Cabinet 
recommended  to  the  imperial  government  a  measure 
establishing  a  complete  compulsory  syndicate,  which 
was  finally  adopted.  Under  this  law,  which  runs 
for  twenty  years,  each  of  the  65  mines  is  allotted  a 
certain  percentage  of  the  output,  the  prices  for 
which  are  fixed  by  the  Federal  Council.  Should  the 
wages  be  reduced  by  any  company,  its  percentage 
of  output  is  correspondingly  reduced,  while  detailed 
regulations  protect  the  workmen  in  their  hours  of 
labor  and  compensation.  The  statute  is  so  drawn 


154  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

that  mine  proprietors,  for  their  own  convenience, 
have  been  obliged  to  recreate  the  syndicate.1 

The  purpose  underlying  the  nationalization  of 
potash  is  to  conserve  the  resources  of  the  nation. 
Under  the  law  equal  opportunity  is  accorded  all 
producers,  big  and  small,  to  operate,  a  certain  quota 
being  assigned  to  each  mine,  depending  upon  its 
producing  capacity.  But  the  government  fixes  the 
maximum  prices  for  export.2 

In  the  early  years  of  the  potash  syndicate  Prussia 
was  represented  by  20  per  cent,  of  the  entire  pro- 
duction, but  new  mines  were  opened  and  the  inter- 
ests of  the  government  fell  to  only  7  per  cent.  In 
consequence,  the  power  of  the  government  dimin- 
ished in  the  councils  of  the  syndicate,  and  prices 
were  increased  and  agriculture  suffered.  The  state 
then  purchased  the  Hersyna  mine  at  $7,500,000, 
after  which  it  was  able  to  control  11  per  cent,  of  the 
output.  When  an  objection  was  raised  in  the  Diet 
that  the  state  had  paid  too  high  a  price,  Minister 
Delbriick  stated: 

"The  question  has  been  repeatedly  asked  whether 
the  state  could  not  have  attained  its  ends  more  eco- 
nomically by  waiting  for  a  more  favorable  time  to 
purchase.  Yes,  a  business  man  who  wished  to  make 
big  profits  might  argue  so,  but  the  state  is  buying 
for  reasons  of  public  welfare  and  public  interest. 
The  object  of  this  purchase  is  to  make  it  strong 

1  Roberts,  Monarchical  Socialism,  p.  100. 

2  Jung-Hermsdorf,  Engineering  Magazine,  March,  1911. 


MINES,  FORESTS,  AGRICULTURAL  LANDS    155 

enough  to  serve  the  public  interest  even  without 
the  syndicate,  if  necessary."1 

The  principles  which  guided  the  government  in 
undertaking  control  of  the  potash  production  were 
as  follows : 

(1)  The  belief  that  production  on  a  great  scale 
must  succeed  individual  production,  just  as  factory 
succeeded  cottage  industry. 

(2)  A    syndicate,    after   supplying   the   internal 
market  is  able,  with  a  relatively  small  additional 
cost,  to  turn  out  a  surplus  for  the  foreign  market. 

(3)  Syndicates  have  given  life  to  smaller  enter- 
prises that  might  otherwise  have  been  mercilessly 
killed  by  competition.    The  syndicates  systematize 
production  and  take  in  smaller  works  when  they 
have  grown  to  be  worthy  of  attention.    The  potash 
syndicate  grew  from  4  mines  in  1879  to  65  mines  in 
the  present  statutory  syndicate,  and  more  are  pro- 
vided for. 

(4)  No  strong  party  seeks  to  restrain  the  growth 
of  syndicates.    The  Socialists  are  not  opposed.    On 
the  contrary,  they  see  in  it  a  step  toward  the  reali- 
zation of  the  future  state. 

In  1904,  at  a  convention  in  Frankfort,  the  Socialists 
made  the  following  declaration  upon  this  question: 

"The  working  classes  have  no  occasion  to  disturb 
the  revolutionary  process  of  the  syndicate  system 

1  Dawson,  Evolution  of  Modern  Germany,  p.  206. 


156  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

through  reactionary  legislative  attempts,  because 
every  progressive  step  in  the  centralization  of  capital 
whereby  the  interests  of  the  masses  are  separated 
from  the  interests  of  property  teaches  impressively 
and  visibly  the  irresistible  superiority  of  nationally 
and  internationally  organized  and  centrally  directed 
production  over  the  scattered  production  of  free 
competition.  This  development  is,  therefore,  a  step 
toward  the  realization  of  socialism."1 

As  a  result  of  its  activities  the  state  virtually  con- 
trols the  potash  industry,  although  it  actually  pro- 
duces but  a  small  part  of  the  output.  The  prin- 
ciples set  forth  by  the  government  in  assuming  this 
connection  involve,  says  Roberts: 

"The  acceptance  by  Parliament  of  the  principle 
that  the  state  has  the  right  of  compulsory  regula- 
tion of  private  production  may  have  a  profound 
effect  upon  the  future  in  Germany.  In  the  potash 
production  it  has  enabled  the  government  to  exer- 
cise the  vital  powers  that  it  would  have  over  prop- 
erties, were  they  owned  by  the  government,  without 
buying  them.  Parliament  would  almost  certainly 
have  refused  the  200,000  marks  or  more  which 
would  have  been  required  to  buy  the  mines.  The 
government  did  not  controvert,  indeed  it  accepted 
the  idea  that  other  natural  products  might  also 
be  controlled  by  statutory  syndicates."  2 

It  is  probable  that  this  compromise  course  of 
partnership  between  the  state  and  private  corpora- 
tions will  be  extended  to  other  industries,  if  it  works 

1  Roberts,  Monarchical  Socialism,  p.  104. 

2  Idem,  p.  100. 


MINES,    FORESTS,    AGRICULTURAL    LANDS    157 

as  expected  in  the  potash  industry.  The  present 
policy,  however,  is  toward  the  encouragement  of  syn- 
dicates working  under  the  sanction  of  the  govern- 
ment rather  than  of  legislative  checks  upon  them, 
along  the  lines  of  anti-trust  legislation  in  America. 
This  procedure  is  entirely  in  harmony  with  the 
German  policy  of  trusting  the  government.  Doctor 
Jung-Hermsdorf,  writing  from  the  standpoint  of  a 
patriotic  German,  says: 

"The  object  of  the  government  is  to  avoid  busi- 
ness fluctuation  and  depressions  as  far  as  possible, 
because  they  bear  hardest  on  the  poor;  to  preserve 
the  home  market  from  panics,  cutting  excessive 
profits  on  the  one  hand  and  making  for  continuity 
of  employment  on  the  other.  The  state  can  do  this 
only  by  gaining  control  over  capital  for  production, 
the  organization  of  trade  and  the  fixing  of  prices, 
in  addition  to  regulating  wages  and  working  con- 
ditions. .  .  .  While  the  authority  of  the  state  is  in- 
variably supreme,  its  functions  are  of  progressive 
variety."  1 

This  writer,  representing  probably  the  point  of 
view  of  the  ruling  classes,  thinks  the  government 
should  confine  itself  to  regulating  industry  through 
partnership  rather  than  ownership,  except  in  the 
case  of  natural  monopolies.  He  says: 

"State  partnership  and  control,  besides  steadying 
business,  has  the  further  great  advantage  that  it 
strengthens  the  confidence  of  domestic  and  foreign 

1  Engineering  Magazine,  March,  1911. 


158  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

investors.  .  .  .  But  the  state  will  not  go  into  activi- 
ties of  a  higher  order,  where  creative  ability  and 
elasticity  are  decisive  factors.  In  these  private 
enterprise  can  do  better."  1 

Germany  faces  the  monopoly  problem  with  more 
frankness  than  does  America.  The  Socialists  claim 
that  the  only  solution  is  through  the  transfer  of 
large  industry  to  the  state  itself,  and  many  promi- 
nent professors  rin  the  university  urge  this  pro- 
gramme as  to  the  mineral  resources  of  the  nation. 
The  government,  however,  has  not  fully  accepted 
this  view,  although  it  has  advanced  further  than  any 
other  nation  in  this  direction.  And  in  this  evolu- 
tion the  government  has  moved  from  one  position 
to  another.  At  first  it  was  neutral  toward  large 
combinations  of  capital,  which  have  invaded  most 
of  the  larger  industries,  such  as  the  iron  and  steel, 
coal,  glass,  chemicals,  sugar,  spirits,  and  leather. 
Now,  however,  the  government  is  inclined  to  be 
friendly  to  the  idea  of  large  industry,  but  to  subject 
it  to  inside  rather  than  outside  control.  Where  the 
state  itself  owns  industries  it  has  itself  entered  the 
syndicates,  while  the  state-owned  railways  give 
special  rates  to  them,  as  a  still  further  encourage- 
ment. 

Despite  this  fact,  Germany  recognizes  the  dangers 
of  monopoly.  The  secretary  of  state  for  the  interior 
said  in  the  Reichstag,  May  4,  1912: 

lldem. 


MINES,    FORESTS,    AGRICULTURAL    LANDS    159 

"In  the  syndicates  are  growing  up  organizations 
which  are  assuming  the  character  of  private  monop- 
olies, which  may  become  a  good  deal  more  dangerous 
than  state  monopolies.  I  consider  it  not  improbable 
that  we  may  have  to  gradually  transform  private 
monopolies  into  state  monopolies.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  are  not  yet  ripe  for  such  a  measure."1 

Professor  Sehmoller,  one  of  the  leading  professors 
of  political  economy,  urges  that  the  state  should 
have  representation  on  the  boards  of  directors  of 
the  syndicates.  He  says:  "In  any  event,  it  is  neces- 
sary that  the  state  should  acquire  an  influence  on 
the  syndicates.  It  is  desirable  that  there  should 
be  an  agreement  between  buyers  and  sellers,  per- 
haps negotiated  by  an  imperial  board.  ...  In  a 
country  in  which  private  railways  have  passed  into 
the  state's  hands  and  in  which  fiscal  mining  has 
been  begun  on  a  large  scale  there  is  certainly  nothing 
extraordinary  in  setting  limits  to  the  formation  of 
trusts. " 

Public  ownership  is  being  urged  by  some  as  a 
means  for  relieving  the  financial  needs  of  the  empire. 
New  sources  of  revenue  are  being  constantly  sought 
for  military  and  social  purposes.  The  agrarian  classes 
are  opposed  to  any  extension  of  the  land  taxes  or 
those  which  fall  upon  incomes  and  inheritances, 
while  the  indirect  taxes  are  already  very  high.  Fiscal 
necessities  may  lead  to  further  incursions  into  the 
field  of  industry,  and  such  incursions  will  be  received 

1  Dawson,  Industrial  Germany,  p.  143. 


160  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

with  but  relatively  little  protest.  In  any  proposals 
for  the  nationalization  of  industry,  the  government 
can  always  count  on  the  support  of  the  Socialists 
and  generally  of  the  agrarians,  who  fear  increased 
tax  burdens  and  who  have  but  little  financial  interest 
in  the  great  industrial  undertakings. 

The  future  attitude  of  the  government  as  regards 
regulation  and  control  is  indicated  in  a  recent  an- 
nouncement that  the  government  intended  to  es- 
tablish a  monopoly  in  petroleum,  to  break  the  mo- 
nopoly of  the  Standard  Oil  Company.  Under  this 
proposal  the  government  did  not  itself  plan  to  enter 
the  business,  but  rather  to  create  a  legal  monopoly 
in  a  private  company,  the  capital  of  which  is  to  be 
supplied  partly  by  banks  already  interested  in  the 
petroleum  industry  and  partly  by  public  subscrip- 
tion. After  the  company  is  formed  it  is  to  take 
over  all  of  the  existing  wholesale  businesses,  with 
their  warehouses  and  plants,  and  in  case  of  inability 
to  reach  satisfactory  terms,  the  state  will  lend  its 
powers  of  expropriation  for  the  purpose.  In  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  profits  of  the  new  company  four- 
fifths  are  to  go  to  the  state  and  one-fifth  to  the 
shareholders. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  ATTITUDE  OF  GERMANY  TOWARD  THE 
SOCIAL  PROBLEM 

GERMANY  hates  waste  in  any  form.  She  has 
taught  the  world  the  value  of  the  " by-product." 
This  is  one  of  her  contributions  to  industry.  Other 
countries  have  adopted  her  methods  of  industrial 
salvage,  but  none  of  them,  with  the  possible  excep- 
tion of  Denmark  and  Switzerland,  has  followed  her 
example  in  the  working  out  of  a  programme  for 
saving  the  waste  of  human  lives  which  the  mill  and 
the  factory  produce. 

Some  years  ago  the  imperial  minister  of  the  in- 
terior stated  in  the  Reichstag:  "If  Germany  has 
experienced  a  vast  industrial  expansion  equalled  by 
no  other  country  in  the  world  during  the  same  time 
it  is  chiefly  due  to  the  efficiency  of  its  workers,  but 
this  efficiency  must  have  suffered  had  we  not  se- 
cured to  our  working  classes  by  the  social  legislation 
of  recent  years  a  tolerable  standard  of  life,  and  had 
we  not  as  far  as  possible  guaranteed  their  physical 
health." 

Germany,  it  is  claimed  by  her  statesmen,  has 
secured  industrial  efficiency  by  the  action  of  the 
state.  The  aid  of  the  government  has  been  ex- 

161 


162  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

tended  to  the  worker  just  as  it  has  been  extended  to 
the  landowner,  who  is  protected  from  the  compe- 
tition of  American  wheat  by  the  high  tariff;  to  the 
manufacturer,  who  is  secured  from  competition  in 
like  manner;  and  to  the  ship  owner,  who  is  subsi- 
dized from  the  nation's  treasury. 

The  state  has  its  finger  on  the  pulse  of  the  worker 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  His  education,  his 
health,  and  his  working  efficiency  are  matters  of 
constant  concern.  He  is  carefully  protected  from 
accident  by  laws  and  regulations  governing  fac- 
tories. He  is  trained  in  his  hand  and  in  his  brain 
to  be  a  good  workman  and  is  insured  against  acci- 
dent, sickness,  and  old  age.  When  idle  through  no 
fault  of  his  own,  work  is  frequently  found  for  him. 
When  homeless,  a  lodging  is  offered  so  that  he  will 
not  easily  pass  to  the  vagrant  class.  When  sick, 
he  is  cared  for  in  wonderful  convalescent  homes, 
tuberculosis  hospitals,  and  farm  colonies.  When 
old  age  removes  him  from  the  mill  or  the  factory,  a 
pension  awaits  him,  a  slight  mark  of  appreciation 
from  society,  which  has  taken  in  labor  all  that  his 
life  had  to  give  and  left  him  nothing  more  than  a 
bare  subsistence  wage. 

Despite  his  hatred  of  democracy,  Bismarck  saw 
the  benefit  of  such  a  programme.  It  was  he  who 
promoted  the  insurance  laws  against  accident,  in- 
validity, sickness,  and  old  age.  These  measures 
were  inspired  partly  by  the  history  and  traditions  of 


GERMANY  AND  THE  SOCIAL  PROBLEM      163 

Prussia,  partly  by  the  desire  to  undermine  the  rapidly 
growing  Socialist  party,  partly  by  an  appreciation 
of  the  value  of  such  legislation  to  the  state.  State 
concern  for  the  dependent  classes  has  been  the  tra- 
ditional policy  of  Prussia  for  centuries,  and  Bis- 
marck found  a  sanction  for  his  proposals  in  the 
precedents  of  the  Prussian  Kings  as  well  as  in  the 
common  law  and  the  mandates  of  Christianity,  to 
which  he  always  appealed.  In  support  of  his  mea- 
sures he  referred  back  to  similar  measures  of  the 
Great  Elector,  Frederick  William  I,  and  Frederick 
the  Great  as  well  as  to  the  liberalizing  legislation 
of  Stein  and  Hardenberg  in  the  early  years  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  The  Hohenzollern  mon- 
archs  had  never  been  out  of  sympathy  with  the 
common  people  as  were  the  Hapsburg  and  Bourbon 
dynasties.  And  much  of  their  popularity  is  traceable 
to  this  fact.  And  Prussia  has  always  avowed  that 
the  welfare  of  the  state  was  identified  with  the  wel- 
fare of  the  common  people.  Frederick  the  Great 
carried  through  many  projects  of  state  socialism 
for  the  upbuilding  of  Prussia.  He  brought  artisans 
from  other  countries  to  build  up  new  industries, 
he  built  canals  and  harbors,  and  carried  through 
many  other  undertakings.  The  Prussian  common 
law  contained  many  provisions  for  the  protection  of 
the  poorer  classes;  it  was  part  of  the  obligation  of 
the  crown  to  support  those  who  could  not  support 
themselves,  to  provide  employment,  to  prevent 


164  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

destitution,  and  to  check  idleness.  This  is  the  legal 
sanction  of  state  and  municipal  aid  to  the  dependent 
poor,  which  is  exclusively  a  public  rather  than  a 
private  function  in  Germany.  And  Bismarck  relied 
on  these  traditions  of  the  common  law  as  well  as 
the  paternalistic  measures  of  previous  times  in  the 
defense  of  his  policies.  He  even  found  legal  support 
for  the  "right  to  work"  in  the  ancient  law  of  the 
land.  As  early  as  1878  he  stated:  "I  will  further 
every  endeavor  which  positively  aims  at  improving 
the  condition  of  working  classes."  In  this  the  Em- 
peror joined.  In  opening  the  Reichstag  in  1879  the 
Emperor  announced:  "A  remedy  cannot  alone  be 
sought  in  the  repression  of  Socialist  agitation.  There 
must  be  simultaneously  the  positive  advancement 
of  the  welfare  of  the  working  classes.  And  here 
the  case  of  those  work-people  who  are  incapable 
of  earning  their  own  livelihood  is  of  the  greatest 
importance."  In  1881  the  Emperor  said  again: 
"That  the  state  should  interest  itself  to  a  greater 
degree  than  hitherto  in  those  of  its  members  who 
need  assistance,  is  not  only  a  duty  of  humanity  and 
Christianity — by  which  state  institutions  should 
be  permeated — but  a  duty  of  state-preserving  policy 
whose  aim  should  be  to  cultivate  the  conception — 
and  that  too  among  the  non-propertied  classes, 
which  form  at  once  the  most  numerous  and  the  least 
instructed  part  of  the  population — that  the  state 
is  not  merely  a  necessary  but  a  benevolent  institution. 


GERMANY  AND  THE  SOCIAL  PROBLEM      165 

These  classes  must,  by  the  evident  and  direct  ad- 
vantages which  are  secured  to  them  by  legislative 
measures,  be  led  to  regard  the  state,  not  as  an  in- 
stitution contrived  for  the  protection  of  the  better 
classes  of  society,  but  as  one  serving  their  own  needs 
and  interests." 

Bismarck  protested  constantly  against  the  laissez- 
faire  individualistic  indifference  of  the  state  to  the 
weaker  members  of  society.  In  a  speech  in  the 
Reichstag  he  said: 

"Herr  Richter  has  called  attention  to  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  State  for  what  it  does.  But  it  is  my 
opinion  that  the  State  can  also  be  responsible  for 
what  it  does  not  do.  I  do  not  think  that  doc- 
trines like  those  of  ' Laissez-faire,  laissez-aller/  'Pure 
Manchesterdom  in  politics/  'Jeder  sehe,  wie  er's 
treibe,  Jeder  sehe,  wo  er  bleibe/  'He  who  is  not 
strong  enough  to  stand  must  be  knocked  down  and 
trodden  to  the  ground/  'To  him  that  hath  shall 
be  given,  and  from  him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken 
away  even  that  which  he  hath/ — that  doctrines 
like  these  should  be  applied  in  the  State,  and  es- 
pecially in  a  monarchically,  paternally  governed 
State.  On  the  other  hand,  I  believe  that  those  who 
profess  horror  at  the  intervention  of  the  State  for 
the  protection  of  the  weak  lay  themselves  open 
to  the  suspicion  that  they  are  desirous  of  using  their 
strength — be  it  that  of  capital,  that  of  rhetoric,  or 
whatever  it  be — for  the  benefit  of  a  section,  for  the 
oppression  of  the  rest,  for  the  introduction  of  party 
domination,  and  that  they  will  be  chagrined  as  soon 
as  this  design  is  disturbed  by  any  action  of  the 
Government." 


166  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

In  1884  he  even  proclaimed  the  doctrine  that  a 
man  has  a  "right  to  work."  "Give  the  working 
man  the  right  to  work  as  long  as  he  is  healthy, "  he 
said,  "assure  him  care  when  he  is  sick;  assure  him 
maintenance  when  he  is  old.  If  you  do  that,  and 
do  not  fear  the  sacrifice,  or  cry  out  at  state  social- 
ism directly  the  words  "provision  for  old  age"  are 
uttered, — if  the  state  would  show  a  little  more 
Christian  solicitude  for  the  working  man,  then  I 
believe  that  the  gentlemen  of  the  Wyden  (Social 
Democratic)  programme  will  sound  their  bird  call  in 
vain,  and  that  the  thronging  to  them  will  cease  as 
soon  as  working  men  see  that  the  government  and 
legislative  bodies  are  earnestly  concerned  for  their 
welfare. " 

And  he  further  said: 

"Yes,  I  acknowledge  unconditionally  the  right 
to  work,  and  I  will  stand  up  for  it  as  long  as  I  am 
in  this  place." 

Then,  continuing  in  the  same  strain,  he  said  about 
the  man  who  would  work  but  could  not  work: 

"I  am  healthy,  I  desire  to  work,  but  can  find  no 
work." 

Such  a  man,  he  said,  is  entitled  to  say,  "Give  me 
work,"  and  that  the  state  is  bound  to  give  him  work. 
In  the  discussion  in  the  Reichstag  over  his  social 
measures,  Bismarck  said  in  1882: 


GERMANY  AND  THE  SOCIAL  PROBLEM      167 

"It  is  the  tradition  of  the  dynasty  which  I  serve 
that  it  takes  the  part  of  the  weaker  ones  in  the 
economic  struggles, " 

and,  in  defense  of  his  proposal  for  a  system  of  uni- 
form sickness  insurance,  he  said: 

"Experience  has  abundantly  shown  that  the  uni- 
versal adoption  of  sickness  insurance,  which  must 
be  characterized  as  one  of  the  most  important 
measures  for  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of 
the  working  classes,  cannot  be  effected  along  the 
lines  of  free  [voluntary]  legislation." 

In  discussing  the  various  measures  which  he  had 
in  mind  for  the  protection  of  the  working  classes 
Bismarck  said : 

"The  end  I  have  in  view  is  the  establishment  of 
an  institution  having  State  support,  and  extending 
to  the  whole  Empire,  for  the  maintenance  of  old 
and  infirm  persons." 

In  these  proposals  Bismarck  had  the  support  of 
Emperor  William  I.  In  1881  the  speech  from  the 
throne  in  support  of  further  legislation  stated: 

"The  care  of  those  work-people  who  are  incapable 
of  earning  their  livelihood  is  of  the  first  importance. 
In  their  interest  the  Emperor  has  caused  a  bill  for 
the  insurance  of  work-people  against  the  conse- 
quences of  accident  to  be  sent  to  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil— a  bill  which  it  is  hoped  will  meet  a  need  felt 
both  by  work-people  and  employers.  His  Majesty 
hopes  that  the  measure  will  in  principle  receive  the 
assent  of  the  Federal  Governments,  and  that  it  will 


168  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

be  welcomed  by  the  Reichstag  as  a  complement  of 
the  legislation  affording  protection  against  Social- 
Democratic  movements." 

Along  the  same  lines  the  speech  from  the  throne 
continued : 

"These  classes  must  be  led  by  the  evident  and 
direct  advantages  which  are  secured  to  them  by 
legislative  measures  to  regard  the  State  not  as  an 
institution  contrived  for  the  better  classes  of  society, 
but  as  one  serving  their  own  needs  and  interests. 
The  apprehension  that  the  Socialistic  element  might 
be  introduced  into  legislation  if  this  end  were  fol- 
lowed should  not  deter  us.  So  far  as  that  may  be  the 
case  it  would  not  be  an  innovation,  but  a  further 
development  of  the  modern  idea  of  the  State,  the 
result  of  Christian  ethics,  according  to  which  the 
State  should  discharge,  besides  the  defensive  duty  of 
protecting  existing  rights,  the  positive  duty  of  pro- 
moting the  welfare  of  all  its  members,  especially 
those  who  are  weaker  and  in  need  of  help,  by  means 
of  judicious  institutions  and  the  employment  of  those 
resources  of  the  community  which  are  at  its  dis- 
posal." 

The  same  spirit  now  animates  the  business  and 
commercial  classes  of  Germany,  even  though  they 
protested  against  the  original  proposals  of  Bismarck 
and  the  many  other  measures  of  social  reform  which 
have  been  adopted  in  recent  years.  As  indicative  of 
the  general  attitude  of  the  employing  classes,  the 
following  is  quoted  from  a  publication  issued  by  the 
Frankfort  Chamber  of  Commerce,  which  says: 


GERMANY  AND  THE  SOCIAL  PROBLEM      169 

"The  'Manchester  School'  has  had  its  day  and 
since  it  had  full  sway  a  great  change  has  come  over 
the  civilized  nations,  marked  by  an  increased  in- 
fluence of  the  governments  at  the  expense  of  in- 
dividualism. 

"Slowly  at  first,  but  then  in  ever  increasing  mea- 
sure mankind  realized  that  the  doctrine  of  'Laisser 
f aire,  laisser  passer '  was  a  vicious  one  and  that  the 
Darwinian  tenet  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  should 
not  apply  to  human  beings.  True  enough  this 
knowledge  did  not  emerge  from  purely  altruistic 
motives,  but  was  a  result  of  the  conviction  that 
the  road  with  the  fingerpost-inscriptions,  '  Elbow 
room  for  everybody'  and  'Everybody  for  himself 
and  the  devil  take  the  hindmost/  was  a  short  one, 
leading  to  nowhere. 

"It  had  become  obvious  to  leaders  of  men,  like 
Bismarck  and  Gladstone,  that  the  new  methods 
of  modern  machinery  and  large  capital  had  created 
forms  of  employment  unknown  before,  that  huge 
urban  agglomerations  had  been  called  into  existence 
and  that  the  national  agriculture  of  old-world  coun- 
tries like  France,  England  and  Germany  were  being 
exposed  to  a  great  strain  by  the  competition  of  the 
virgin  soils  of  new  lands. 

"Furthermore  the  new  conditions  in  industry, 
commerce  and  agriculture  had  brought  about  a 
change  in  the  personal  relations  between  employer 
and  employed;  these  formerly  patriarchal  relations 
became  impersonal  in  proportion  as  the  numbers 
of  workmen  and  other  employees  increased.  Great 
portions  of  the  populations  saw  themselves  help- 
less and  shelterless  in  case  of  death,  disaster,  and 
disease.  Germany  was  the  first  state  to  recognize 
the  threatening  danger  and,  in  order  to  minimize  it, 
adopted  the  system  of  compulsory  insurance.  Prince 


170  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

Bismarck  and  his  imperial  master  William  I.  were 
the  prime  movers  in  this  great  legislative  work,  but 
we  think  it  is  only  just  to  mention  it,  that  certain  ele- 
mentary forms  of  taking  care  of  those  in  distress 
existed  before  and  not  only  in  Germany.  In  this 
country  the  relief  organizations  of  the  guild  corpora- 
tions provided  in  case  of  death  and  sickness,  in 
England  the  ' Friendly  Societies'  did  this  sort  of 
work,  and  other  countries  have  similar  institutions, 
but  Germany  was  the  first  country  where  the  govern- 
ment stepped  into  the  place  of  private  enterprise." 

The  insurance  laws  have  been  in  force  for  thirty 
years  and  to-day  Germany  is  a  unit  in  approval  of 
the  legislation  which  has  been  enacted.  There  is 
no  protest  from  manufacturers  or  employers.  Every 
one  seems  to  realize  the  value  of  these  measures  in 
the  increased  efficiency  of  the  work-people,  whose 
health  and  well-being  is  greatly  improved  by  virtue 
of  the  protection  afforded  them.  There  is  no  attempt 
to  cripple  the  laws  by  hostile  amendments  or  to  evade 
their  obvious  intent.  The  employers  co-operate  in 
the  administration  of  the  insurance  laws,  in  the  local 
employment  agencies,  and  in  the  co-operative  build- 
ing associations,  which,  with  the  aid  of  public  funds, 
have  erected  working  men's  dwellings  in  nearly 
every  large  city  in  the  empire.  And  a  generation's 
experience  has  amply  justified  the  wisdom  of  Bis- 
marck's programme.  It  has  in  a  measure  softened 
the  relation  of  employer  and  employee,  although  it 
did  not  check  the  growth  of  the  Social  Democratic 


GERMANY  AND  THE  SOCIAL  PROBLEM      171 

party  or  weaken  its  requests  for  further  concessions 
to  its  political  and  social  demands.  But  it  has  con- 
tributed greatly  to  the  efficiency  and  well-being  of 
the  working  classes.  It  has  relieved  them  of  the 
haunting  fear  of  sickness,  old  age,  and  destitution. 
It  has  completely  checked  the  tendency  to  emigrate 
and  has  identified  the  working  classes  with  the  state. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  the  devotion  and  patriotism 
of  the  German  people  in  the  present  struggle  is 
largely  traceable  to  the  solicitous  care  which  the 
state  manifests  for  her  citizens,  a  solicitude  which 
has  been  the  traditional  policy  of  Prussia  for  cen- 
turies. 


CHAPTER   XII 
CARING  FOR  THE  UNEMPLOYED 

GEEMANY  does  not  officially  recognize  the  declara- 
tion of  Bismarck  that  a  man  has  a  right  to  work. 
But  the  state  does  many  things  to  insure  the  oppor- 
tunity to  work  just  the  same.  It  seems  as  though 
the  nation  said:  "It  costs  $2,000  to  raise  a  boy  to 
manhood.  That  much  is  taken  from  the  wealth 
of  the  community.  It  is  wasteful  to  expend  this 
sum  for  a  man's  upbringing  and  then  permit  him  to 
be  idle,  to  become  a  tramp,  to  be  maimed  or  killed 
in  the  factory,  or  to  be  disabled  through  sickness." 
So  the  state  makes  provision  for  the  protection  of  its 
human  assets.  Not  that  the  motive  is  as  sordid  as 
this,  although  industrial  and  military  efficiency  is 
always  in  the  mind  of  the  Kaiser  and  his  ministers. 

How  is  this  achieved?  In  a  great  variety  of  ways. 
A  comprehensive  programme  of  human  salvage  has 
been  worked  out.  In  the  first  place,  there  are  the 
\l  labor  exchanges,  which  are  models  of  administrative 
efficiency.  There  are  nearly  three  hundred  of  them 
in  the  empire  which  report  regularly  to  the  imperial 
statistical  office  in  Berlin.  They  exist  in  every 
community  and  fill  over  1,000,000  positions  every 
year.  They  are  maintained  partly  by  the  cities, 

172 


CARING  FOR  THE  UNEMPLOYED         173 

partly  by  private  agencies.  They  are  great  clearing- 
houses for  skilled  and  unskilled  labor  of  both  sexes. 
They  have  the  hearty  support  of  employers  and 
generally  of  the  employees.  Few  of  them  charge 
any  fee.  The  exchange  in  Berlin,  the  largest  and 
best  in  the  empire,  secures  over  100,000  positions 
annually.  It  was  established  in  1888,  and  is  main- 
tained at  a  cost  of  $25,000  a  year.  It  occupies  a 
splendid  four-story  building,  probably  a  hundred 
feet  front  on  Gormanstrasse.  In  the  centre  of 
the  building  is  a  great  open  hall  capable  of  seating 
1,400  persons.  There  were  probably  600  men  wait- 
ing for  work  when  I  was  there.  Here  the  men  sit, 
grouped  in  sections,  distributed  according  to  their 
employment.  When  a  call  is  received  by  mail  or 
over  the  telephone,  the  men  in  the  employment 
desired  are  called  to  the  desk.  The  wages  and  con- 
ditions are  explained,  and  if  satisfactory  the  men 
are  given  a  card  to  the  employer. 

Priority  is  given  to  the  married  men  as  well  as  to 
those  first  registered.  On  one  side  of  the  hall  is  a 
buffet,  where  beer,  cigars,  and  food  are  sold  at  a 
trifling  sum.  There  are  cobblers  and  tailors  who 
do  jobs  of  mending.  A  shower-bath  can  be  obtained 
in  the  basement  for  a  cent.  There  is  a  smaller 
room  and  canteen  for  the  skilled  workers,  and 
another  for  women  workers  in  another  portion  of 
the  building.  Connected  with  the  registry  is  a  free 
dispensary  and  medical-inspection  bureau.  By  these 


174  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

simple  precautions  the  men  are  kept  strong  and 
presentable.  They  do  not  suggest  the  vagrant,  and 
when  they  go  to  the  employer  they  are  not  down 
and  out  in  appearance  as  are  the  men  who  roam  the 
streets  and  live  as  best  they  may  in  private  lodging- 
houses  or  saloons  in  America  while  looking  for  em- 
ployment. The  exchange  preserves  the  self-respect 
of  the  worker.  There  is  no  suggestion  of  charity 
about  it  and  the  general  appearance  of  the  men  in- 
dicates that  they  are  for  the  most  part  free  from 
the.  haunting  fear  of  poverty  so  characteristic  of 
the  unemployed  in  this  country. 

Many  of  the  exchanges  make  special  provision  for 
apprentices.  Boys  and  girls  about  to  leave  the  ele- 
mentary schools  are  brought  to  the  exchange  before 
they  leave  and  are  given  an  opportunity  to  regis- 
ter. As  a  result,  many  of  them  have  completed  all 
arrangements  for  work  before  they  leave  school. 

Different  policies  are  adopted  by  agencies  in  case 
of  strike  or  labor  dispute.  These  policies  are: 

(1)  To  ignore  such  disputes  altogether  and  to 
send  men  as  if  there  were  no  controversy. 

(2)  To  record  vacancies  caused  by  a  strike,  and 
to  advise  the  men  of  such  opportunity,  but  to  also 
advise  them  of  the  disputes. 

(3)  To  suspend  operations  within  the  range  of  the 
dispute  during  its  continuance. 

(4)  To  act  in  each  case  upon  the  decision  of  the 
local  industrial  court. 


CARING  FOR  THE  UNEMPLOYED         175 

In  most  registries  the  policy  adopted  is  to  advise 
applicants  for  work  of  existing  wage  controversies. 

These  agencies  command  the  confidence  and  sup- 
port of  both  employers  and  employees.  They  are 
rapidly  driving  the  private  employment  agencies 
out  of  business.  The  number  of  places  filled  by  the 
public  exchanges  reporting  from  1909  to  1911  were 
as  follows: 


YEARS 

POSITIONS  FILLED 

BUREAUS  REPORTING 

1909 

731,848 

230 

1910  

877,042 

250 

1911  

1,055,784 

267 

The  municipal  agencies  act  in  concert  by  reports 
sent  to  a  central  agency  in  the  capital  of  each  of 
the  states  so  that  the  surplus  labor  in  one  market 
can  be  sent  to  another.  In  addition  connections  are 
maintained  with  the  country  districts  so  that  agri- 
cultural labor  can  be  supplied  during  the  harvest 
season. 

This  is  the  first  step  in  the  problem  of  unemploy- 
ment. It  is  a  recognition  of  the  social  nature  of  the 
problem — of  the  inability  of  the  worker  to  control 
his  work,  to  own  his  tools,  or  to  find  the  place  for 
which  he  is  most  fitted  without  terrible  waste  of 
time  and  energy.  The  labor  exchange  is  not  un- 
like the  clearing-house  system  of  the  banks  or  the 
credit  agencies  of  modern  business. 

Provision  is  also  made  in  an  adequate  way  for  the 


176  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

wandering  worker,  the  honest  artisan  seeking  a  job. 
Germany  does  not  assume  that  a  man  out  of  em- 
ployment "with  no  visible  means  of  support"  is  a 
semicriminal.  The  courts  do  not  place  him  under 
arrest  as  a  suspicious  person,  as  do  many  of  our 
cities.  Thousands  of  men  in  America  are  unjustly 
branded  by  the  ignorant  policy  which  we  pursue. 
They  are  started  on  the  road  to  trampdom,  va- 
grancy, and  crime  by  the  disgrace  which  we  place 
upon  them.  Germany  recognizes  that  hard  times, 
a  strike,  or  a  lockout,  the  introduction  of  a  new  ma- 
chine, are  all  conditions  which  the  workman  can- 
not control.  It  accepts  the  wandering  worker  as  a 
part  of  the  fluidity  of  modern  industry  and  provides 
for  him  in  a  variety  of  ways. 

Lodging-houses  or  working  men's  hotels  are  to 
be  found  in  almost  every  community.  By  means  of 
them  the  worker  can  travel  from  place  to  place, 
even  though  he  is  without  money  or  immediate 
employment.  These  lodging-houses  are  called  Her- 
bergen.  Some  of  them  are  conducted  by  the  cities, 
others  by  private  philanthropy.  In  1904  there  were 
462  of  these  Herbergen  in  Germany,  containing 
20,000  beds.  They  lodge  over  2,000,000  persons 
annually  of  whom  a  large  number  are  paying 
guests. 

In  order  to  secure  admission,  the  worker  must  be 
able  to  produce  a  passport  showing  that  he  has 
recently  been  at  work.  He  can  pay  for  his  lodging 


CARING  FOR  THE  UNEMPLOYED         177 

and  breakfast  (about  twelve  cents)  or  he  can  work 
for  four  hours  for  them.  The  rule  is  "  morning  work, 
afternoon  walk."  The  work  is  usually  of  a  simple 
kind,  such  as  chopping  wood.  Over  half  of  the 
Herbergen  have  savings-banks  in  connection  with 
them,  deposits  being  made  by  the  purchase  of 
stamps.  The  Herbergen  are  usually  in  close  con- 
nection with  the  labor  registries,  and  many  of  them 
make  provision  for  permanent  pay  boarders.  They 
are  really  cheap  working  men's  hotels.  To  such  an 
extent  have  these  institutions  developed  in  the 
industrial  regions  of  South  Germany,  that  vagrancy 
has  practically  disappeared,  as  has  that  class  of 
crimes  usually  committed  by  the  vagrant  class. 

The  labor  colony  is  another  institution  for  the 
worker.  It  is  open  to  those  who  have  lost  their  grip 
through  drink  or  are  unable  to  find  work  through 
the  labor  exchange.  The  labor  colony  reaches  a 
much  lower  class  than  the  labor  registry.  There 
are  upward  of  forty  of  them  in  the  empire.  They, 
too,  are  partly  private,  partly  public.  They  are  not 
penal  colonies  to  which  men  are  sent,  but  are  purely 
voluntary.  Men  enter  and  leave  when  they  will. 
Upward  of  10,000  persons  made  use  of  these  col- 
onies in  1908.  They  are  exclusively  agricultural, 
and  attract  mostly  the  unskilled  worker.  They  are 
located  on  cheap  land,  which  is  brought  under  cul- 
tivation by  the  labor  of  the  men,  who  produce 
potatoes,  vegetables,  and  similar  products  for  their 


178  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

own  consumption.  Probably  75  per  cent,  of  the 
men  who  come  to  the  colonies  have  been  in  jail. 
Yet,  strangely  enough,  there  is  practically  no  in- 
subordination and  no  difficulty  in  preserving  dis- 
cipline. 

None  of  these  agencies  create  work  where  no 
work  exists.  Neither  the  labor  registry  nor  the 
Herbergen  open  the  door  of  the  factory  or  meet  the 
emergency  of  industrial  depression.  They  do  not 
create  opportunity  where  none  exists;  they  merely 
attempt  to  unite  the  workless  job  with  the  jobless 
man.  They  prevent  men  from  losing  their  grip 
during  a  period  of  waiting.  Nor  do  they  provide  for 
the  mechanic  with  a  family  who  is  face  to  face  with 
starvation  by  reason  of  the  closing  of  the  factory. 

During  the  industrial  depression  of  1914-15  in 
America,  unemployed  men  petitioned  the  councils  of 
many  cities  to  provide  temporary  relief  work.  They 
did  not  want  charity;  they  wanted  work.  But  the 
cities  were  powerless  to  relieve  the  situation  or  had 
no  inclination  to  do  so.  State  laws  bind  the  localities 
in  such  an  inflexible  manner  that  they  cannot  act 
on  an  emergency  when  it  arises.  They  can  only 
cope  with  such  problems  as  the  distant  legislature, 
with  little  knowledge  of  city  needs,  makes  provision 
for.  Here  again  Germany  is  far  in  advance  of  other 
countries.  She  recognizes  that  the  worker  has  a 
right  to  be  protected  from  starvation  and  to  expect 
something  more  than  a  visit  from  the  charity  organi- 


CARING  FOR  THE  UNEMPLOYED         179 

zation  society.  "Distress  work"  is  often  provided 
to  meet  emergencies.  It  is  usually  limited  to  the 
winter  months.  Cities  disclaim  any  legal  or  moral 
responsibility  in  the  matter;  they  do  not  recognize 
"the  right  to  work,"  but  they  provide  work  in  con- 
siderable measure,  nevertheless.  They  distribute 
public  contracts  so  as  to  give  the  maximum  of 
relief  and  require  contractors  to  employ  only  local 
men.  Extraordinary  conditions  are  met  to  some 
extent  by  development  work,  such  as  excavations, 
street  paving,  sewer  construction,  forestry,  wood- 
chopping,  and  the  like.  Applicants  for  distress  work 
must  be  residents  of  the  city  and  must  be  heads 
of  families.  It  is  true  the  work  performed  is  not 
of  the  best,  and  it  is  more  costly  than  that  done 
through  regular  channels,  but  it  saves  the  self-re- 
spect of  the  worker  and  to  some  extent  recognizes 
his  right  to  work.  In  a  larger  sense,  it  saves  the 
community  from  the  vagabonds,  tramps,  and  semi- 
criminals,  who  are  the  inevitable  wastage  of  every 
period  of  hard  times. 

Many  other  services  are  performed  by  the  cities. 
Warfare  is  waged  against  infant  mortality  and  pro- 
vision is  made  for  the  inspection  of  school  children. 
States  and  cities  co-operate  in  the  holding  of  con- 
gresses and  exhibitions  for  the  instruction  of  the 
people  along  hygienic  lines.  Leaflets  are  distrib- 
uted for  the  purpose  of  training  mothers  in  the 
feeding  and  care  of  infants.  Infant  dispensaries 


180  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

and  clinics  are  operated,  as  are  model  kitchens  and 
milk  stations.  In  Berlin  there  are  many  dispen- 
saries for  the  instruction  of  mothers  in  infant-feeding. 
These  dispensaries  are  in  charge  of  experts,  assisted 
by  doctors  and  nurses.  They  are  used  mostly  by 
the  working-class  families,  who  receive  free  aid  if 
they  are  unable  to  pay  for  it.  Milk  for  children 
is  distributed  at  a  low  price  and  the  mother  is  in- 
structed in  many  ways  in  the  rearing  of  her  child. 

Recreation  is  also  a  public  function.  Cities  pro- 
vide many  agencies  for  the  leisure  life  of  the  people. 
The  people  are  not  left  to  the  self-interest  of  com- 
merce in  their  leisure  hours,  and  the  opportunities  of 
the  working  class  for  recreation  are  more  generous 
than  those  of  the  average  well-to-do  citizen  in 
America.  Every  city  of  any  size  has  from  one  to 
three  fine  military  bands,  which  give  performances 
afternoons  and  evenings  in  the  parks  and  zoological 
gardens.  They  play  the  best  of  music.  The  larger 
cities  maintain  splendid  symphony  orchestras  or 
choral  societies.  Municipal  restaurants  are  main- 
tained where  wines,  beer,  and  refreshments  are  sold 
at  moderate  prices.  The  cities  and  the  states  also 
maintain  opera-houses  and  theatres  where  the  best 
of  classical  and  modern  productions  are  offered  at 
a  low  price.  Subsidies  are  granted  or  the  opera- 
houses  are  let  to  managers  at  a  very  low  rental.  By 
these  means  the  drama  and  the  opera  are  encouraged; 
they  are  a  part  of  the  life  of  all  classes.  Through 


CARING  FOR  THE  UNEMPLOYED         181 

them  a  knowledge  of  the  best  of  German  literature, 
drama,  and  music  is  inculcated.  In  Germany  the 
leisure  life  of  the  people  is  a  matter  of  public  con- 
cern. It  is  one  of  the  overlooked  agencies  in  the 
explanation  of  German  culture. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
LABOR  AND  INDUSTRIAL  COURTS 

SPECIAL  courts  are  also  provided  to  relieve  the 
worker  from  the  delays  and  costs  of  litigation  which 
the  regular  court  procedure  involves.  They  are 
administered  jointly  by  employers  and  working  men 
through  representatives  selected  by  them  who  act 
as  arbitrators  rather  than  as  legal  judges.  Free 
legal  aid  is  also  furnished  by  many  cities  to  those  in 
distress,  the  bureaus  being  conducted  on  the  same 
basis  as  the  free  medical  dispensary.  They  are 
usually  to  be  found  in  connection  with  the  labor 
exchanges  or  the  herbergen  and  are  widely  used  by 
the  working  classes. 

The  labor  courts  originated  in  France,  where  the 
first  industrial  court,  conseil  de  prud'hommeSj  was 
established  in  1806.  The  courts  spread  through 
France,  later  into  Belgium,  Switzerland,  and  Italy, 
and  then  into  Germany.  It  was  not  until  1890  that 
Germany  enacted  a  general  law  for  the  establish- 
ment of  industrial  courts. 

The  German  industrial  court  consists  of  a  presi- 
dent, who  is  neither  a  worker  nor  an  employer,  and 
an  equal  number  of  worker  and  employer  members, 
called  assessors.  The  courts  are  usually  divided 

182 


LABOR  AND  INDUSTRIAL  COURTS        183 

into  sections,  each  of  which  has  jurisdiction  over  dis- 
putes in  certain  trades  or  groups  of  trades.  Members 
are  elected  from  the  workmen  body  and  the  em- 
ployer body  in  each  of  these  groups.  The  Berlin 
court,  consisting  of  420  members,  has  eight  sections. 
Qualifications  for  membership  in  the  courts  are: 
The  candidate  must  be  at  least  thirty  years  of  age, 
a  citizen  in  good  standing,  and  must  actually  be 
employed  in  the  trade  over  which  the  court  has 
jurisdiction.  Members  are  elected  for  not  more 
than  six  years,  and  must  live  in  the  district  of  the 
court  at  the  time  of  his  election.  The  employer 
body  elects  the  employer  assessors  and  the  workmen 
body  the  workmen  assessors.  Elections  may  take 
place  at  intervals  of  from  one  to  six  years,  but  no 
term  of  office  can  be  longer  than  six  years.  The 
local  regulations  of  the  Berlin  court  provide  that 
assessors  shall  serve  for  a  term  of  six  years,  but  that 
every  two  years  a  third  of  each  category  shall  be 
replaced.  Trade-union  officials  who  devote  their 
entire  time  to  the  union  are  excluded  from  member- 
ship in  the  courts,  as  they  are  not  considered  to 
be  actually  at  work  in  the  trades  they  represent. 
Nevertheless,  many  trade-union  officials  are  members 
of  industrial  courts  and  practically  all  the  workmen 
assessors  belong  to  labor  organizations.  Assessors 
are  considered  as  holding  honorary  offices  and  are 
compensated  only  for  actual  loss  of  time,  workmen 
and  employer  members  receiving  exactly  the  same 


184  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

compensation.  The  president,  of  course,  is  a  salaried 
official  and  is  a  lawyer. 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  industrial  courts  extends 
not  only  to  disputes  between  workers  and  employers, 
but  also  to  disputes  between  different  workmen 
hired  by  the  same  employer.  They  have  jurisdic- 
tion over  all  industrial  employments.  In  addition 
to  the  ordinary  industrial  courts  there  are  special 
courts  for  single  occupations,  such  as  mining.  The 
industrial  courts  do  not  touch  the  commercial  field 
at  all.  For  employees  in  this  field  there  are  the 
Kaufmannsgerichte  or  mercantile  courts,  loosely  con- 
nected with  the  industrial  courts  (Gewerbegerichte). 
Side  by  side  with  the  system  of  industrial  courts, 
and  limiting  their  jurisdiction,  is  a  system  of  guild 
courts  for  the  settlement  of  disputes  between  the 
members  of  guilds  and  their  working  people.  Em- 
ployees of  the  naval  and  military  departments  are 
also  excluded. 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  industrial  court  is  not 
limited  by  the  amount  at  issue,  as  it  is  in  France, 
where  the  councils  of  prud'hommes  may  decide  cases 
only  where  the  value  involved  is  less  than  1,000 
francs.  Moreover,  the  jurisdiction  of  other  courts 
is  excluded  by  the  industrial  courts,  where  these 
exist.  Disputes  over  wage  contracts,  payments,  and 
sometimes  discharge  without  notice  are  the  most 
usual  class  of  cases  which  come  before  these  courts. 

The  procedure  in  the  industrial  courts  is  very 


LABOR  AND  INDUSTRIAL  COURTS        185 

different  from  that  of  the  ordinary  courts.  The  aim 
is  conciliation,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  more  than 
half  the  cases  that  come  up  are  settled  in  this  way  at 
preliminary  hearings.  In  such  cases  the  functions 
of  the  board  of  conciliation  are  practically  performed 
by  the  president  alone,  although  he  may  ask  the 
assistance  of  assessors  at  such  preliminary  hearings. 
If  both  parties  unite  in  asking  it,  the  president  may 
at  the  close  of  such  a  hearing  render  a  valid  decision, 
even  without  assessors.  Should  attempts  at  con- 
ciliation fail  in  the  preliminary  hearing,  they  may  be 
renewed  at  any  stage  of  the  proceedings. 

The  part  taken  by  lawyers  in  the  ordinary  courts  is 
entirely  suppressed  in  the  German  industrial  courts. 
Attorneys  are  not  permitted  to  appear  either  as 
representatives  or  as  assistants.  The  parties  must 
appear  personally,  or  if  this  is  impossible  they  may 
be  represented  by  persons  who  are  themselves  sub- 
ject to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court — employers  or 
workers  in  some  industry  in  the  district.  Proceed- 
ings are  much  less  formal  than  in  other  courts,  and 
the  president  takes  a  more  active  part  in  them.  De- 
cisions are  based  upon  law  and  the  customs  of  the 
trade  as  interpreted  by  the  members  of  the  court. 
Of  the  cases  which  are  not  conciliated  many  are 
withdrawn  without  being  contested  or  are  settled 
by  judgments  by  default.  In  1908  less  than  17  per 
cent,  of  all  cases  coming  before  the  industrial  courts 
were  settled  by  formal  judgment  after  a  hearing  of 


186  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

the  parties.  In  Berlin  the  proportion  was  even  less 
— 9  per  cent. — over  90  per  cent,  being  adjusted  with- 
out trial. 

Every  effort  is  made  to  settle  cases  quickly.  In 
1908  less  than  1.5  per  cent.,  even  of  those  cases  which 
were  brought  to  judgment,  lasted  over  three  months. 
Fees  are  reduced  to  a  minimum  and  cover  only  the 
actual  cost  of  hearing  the  case,  securing  witnesses, 
etc.  These  are  two  of  the  main  advantages  of  the 
industrial  courts.  Those  expenses  of  the  courts 
which  are  not  met  by  fees  are  met  by  the  munic- 
ipality or  municipalities  over  which  the  court  has 
jurisdiction,  or,  as  in  the  case  of  the  German  min- 
ing courts,  by  the  state.  Sessions  of  the  court  are 
held  in  the  late  afternoon  or  evening,  especially  in 
smaller  places,  so  as  to  interfere  as  little  as  possible 
with  the  working  hours  of  employers  and  workmen. 

Appeals  may  be  taken  from  the  decisions  of  the 
industrial  courts  to  the  regular  courts,  but  only  when 
the  amount  involved  is  more  than  100  marks.  The 
amounts  usually  involved  in  cases  before  the  in- 
dustrial courts  are  smaller  than  this.  In  1908  not 
more  than  7  per  cent,  of  the  appealable  cases  were 
taken  to  a  higher  court. 

Besides  their  purely  judicial  functions,  the  indus- 
trial courts  have  certain  administrative  functions. 
Opinions  upon  industrial  questions  may  be  de- 
manded of  the  courts  by  government  officials. 
Moreover,  the  courts  may  present  proposals  to  leg- 


LABOR  AND  INDUSTRIAL  COURTS        187 

islative  bodies,  and  they  sometimes  conduct  legal- 
information  bureaus. 

Collective  disputes  and  strikes  also  come  before 
the  industrial  courts.  This  is  one  of  their  most 
important  functions.  When  the  court  sits  as  a 
board  of  arbitration,  its  powers  and  composition  are 
quite  different  from  what  they  are  in  personal  dis- 
putes. It  is  one  of  the  duties  of  the  president  of 
the  court  to  keep  in  touch  with  trade  unions  and 
employers'  associations,  to  secure  early  information 
of  threatened  strikes  and  lockouts  and  try  to  per- 
suade the  warring  parties  to  call  upon  the  industrial 
court  to  act  as  a  board  of  arbitration.  This  can 
only  be  done,  however,  when  both  parties  agree  to  it. 
The  court,  acting  as  a  board  of  arbitration,  is  com- 
posed of  the  president  and  of  arbitrators  selected 
in  equal  numbers  by  each  side.  These  arbitrators 
may  or  may  not  be  assessors,  but  they  must  not  be 
concerned  in  the  dispute.  Where  no  agreement  is 
reached,  the  decisions  of  the  court  are  not  binding 
upon  the  parties,  but  these  decisions  are  made  pub- 
lic, and  public  opinion  is  relied  upon  to  secure  sub- 
mission to  the  award.  Collective  disputes  are  being 
brought  to  these  courts  for  settlement  as  the  sys- 
tem gains  public  confidence.  In  three-quarters 
of  the  cases  agreements  are  reached,  and  in  most 
of  the  others  the  awards  of  the  court  are  accepted 
by  both  parties.  In  many  cases,  however,  it  has 
been  found  impossible  to  effect  a  settlement. 


188  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

"The  most  important  service  of  the  industrial 
courts  in  collective  disputes,  however,  is  perhaps 
the  assistance  which  it  has  rendered  in  the  forma- 
tion of  wage  contracts  and  trade  agreements.  In  a 
large  number  of  cases  which  do  not  appear  in  the 
statistics  of  the  work  of  the  board  of  arbitration, 
the  presidents  of  industrial  courts  have  presided 
over  meetings  of  representatives  of  the  two  sides 
at  which  such  agreements  have  been  formulated."1 

The  industrial  courts  have  a  voluntary  central 
union,  which  maintains  archives  in  which  are  to  be 
found  the  reports,  decisions,  and  trade  agreements 
effected  by  the  courts.  The  central  union  also  pub- 
lishes an  official  organ:  Gewerbe  und  Kaufmanns- 
gerichte. 

Every  city  of  over  20,000  population  must  have  an 
industrial  court,  and  smaller  municipalities  may  have 
them  if  the  local  authorities  desire  or  if  the  workers 
and  employers  concerned  take  the  initiative.  In 
1908  there  were  in  Germany  469  industrial  courts, 
which  handled  112,281  cases.  It  should  be  added 
in  explanation  of  the  large  number  of  industrial 
courts  in  Germany  that  more  than  one  court  may  be 
established  in  a  district.  That  is,  if  in  a  district  a 
court  exists  which  is  restricted  to  certain  industries, 
another  may  be  formed  to  deal  with  disputes  in 
other  occupations.  The  courts  are  state  courts. 

Most  of  the  cases  brought  before  the  courts  are 

1 "  Industrial  Courts  in  France,  Germany,  and  Switzerland, "  by 
Helen  L.  Sumner,  Ph.D.,  in  Bulktin  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  98, 
January,  1912. 


LABOR  AND  INDUSTRIAL  COURTS        189 

complaints  by  workers  against  employers.  Of  the 
14,522  cases  handled  in  1908  in  the  Berlin  court, 
702  were  brought  by  employers  and  13,820  by 
workers.  These  courts  are  much  more  popular 
with  the  workers  than  with  employers,  because  it  is 
the  workers  who  fear  they  will  not  get  justice  in  the 
ordinary  courts,  and  also  because  of  the  dispro- 
portionately large  expenses  attached  to  a  suit  where 
only  a  small  amount  is  at  issue.  In  districts  where 
no  industrial  courts  exist  the  number  of  complaints 
brought  by  employers  is  much  larger. 

On  the  whole,  the  courts  meet  with  general  ap- 
proval, only  minor  points  calling  forth  criticism. 
For  instance,  the  provision  of  the  law  which  assigns 
foremen  and  managers  to  the  class  of  workers  or  to 
that  of  employers,  according  to  whether  they  receive 
less  or  more  than  2,000  marks  salary,  is  considered 
unfair. 

The  theory  underlying  these  industrial  courts  is 
that  the  labor  contract  is  a  peculiar  kind  of  contract 
which  requires  special  rules,  and  that  the  relations 
arising  from  it  tend  to  become  more  and  more  com- 
plicated, thus  necessitating  special  machinery  for 
their  regulation.  The  court  is  really  an  adaptation 
of  the  jury  system,  the  difference  being  that  the 
jurors  are  more  closely  in  touch  with  the  problems 
brought  before  them,  the  customs  of  the  trade  and 
industrial  conditions,  than  an  ordinary  jury  would 
be.  Moreover,  these  courts  receive  hundreds  of 


190  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

cases  that  would  slip  through  the  coarser  mesh  of 
the  ordinary  court,  owing  partly  to  the  expense  and 
long  delays  of  the  latter,  which  are  particularly 
discouraging  to  the  workers.  Cases  involving  as 
small  an  amount  as  5  cents  have  been  brought 
before  the  industrial  court.  It  is  encouraging  to  the 
poor  man  to  feel  that  he  can  get  justice,  however 
petty  the  stake  may  seem  to  the  wealthier  man. 
Speaking  of  these  courts  a  German  writer  says: 

"By  its  friends,  indeed,  the  industrial  court  law  is 
considered  as  the  Magna  Charta  of  the  German 
workman.  In  this  court,  the  labor  world  of  Ger- 
many has  for  the  first  time  found  an  effective  in- 
strument for  the  prevention  of  wage  reductions  and 
other  violations  of  the  labor  contract.  There  is  no 
state  institution,  he  adds,  to  which  workmen  cling 
with  more  love  or  with  warmer  admiration."1 

In  districts  where  there  is  small-scale  production 
the  number  of  cases  brought  before  the  courts  is 
apt  to  be  larger  than  where  large-scale  production 
is  the  rule.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  conditions 
of  labor  are  so  well  standardized  in  big  factories,  that 
workers  are  afraid  of  being  blacklisted,  etc.,  and 
so  are  willing  to  endure  small  losses.  In  small 
shops,  however,  and  in  such  industries  as  building, 
the  manufacture  of  clothing,  and  the  preparation  of 
food  and  drink,  more  disputes  are  likely  to  arise. 

1  Jastrow,  "  Sozialpolitik  u.  Verwaltungswissenschaft,"  vol.  I,  p. 
405,  in  Bulletin  of  Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  98,  January,  1912. 


LABOR  AND  INDUSTRIAL  COURTS        191 

In  so  far  as  the  functions  of  the  courts  as  arbitra- 
tion boards  are  concerned,  it  is  felt  that  their  work, 
while  valuable  so  far  as  it  goes,  can  be  of  no  use 
when  a  strike  spreads  over  many  cities,  as  did  a 
recent  ship-builders'  strike  in  various  ports,  or  when 
it  becomes  national  in  scope.  A  bill  was  therefore 
brought  before  the  Reichstag  (1911  or  1912),  which 
provides  for  the  establishment  of  an  arbitration 
board  for  the  entire  German  Empire,  to  deal  with 
collective  disputes  extending  over  more  than  one 
city,  the  industrial  courts,  however,  to  retain  their 
functions  in  the  settlement  of  local  disputes. 

These  are  the  more  important  agencies  provided 
for  the  care  and  protection  of  the  worker  in  his  em- 
ployment. They  indicate  the  attempt  of  the  state 
to  keep  in  touch  with  the  changing  nature  of  in- 
dustry and  to  legislate  accordingly.  Public  opinion 
and  legislation  do  not  lag  many  years  behind  the 
problem,  as  they  do  in  this  country.  Thought  keeps 
abreast  of  industrial  conditions  as  they  present 
themselves. 


CHAPTER  XIV  * 
SOCIAL  INSURANCE  AND  SOCIAL  DEMOCRACY 

THESE  are  some  of  the  means  employed  to  pre- 
vent waste,  to  keep  the  producing  power  of  the 
nation  at  a  maximum,  to  protect  the  worker  and 
save  him  and  his  family  and  the  community  from 
the  demoralizing  effects  of  hard  times  and  irregular 
employment.  The  programme  stops  far  short  of 
a  solution  of  the  industrial  problem,  and  the  Social- 
ists have  but  little  sympathy  with  these  palliatives 
as  in  any  sense  remedial.  But  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  individual  and  society  it  is  far  in  advance 
of  anything  yet  developed  in  America,  although  as  a 
social  programme  it  fails  in  that  it  does  nothing  to 
create  more  jobs  or  bring  about  a  juster  distribution 
of  wealth.  Neither  the  labor  exchanges  or  the  lodg- 
ing-houses or  the  relief  agencies  increase  money 
wages  or  the  general  standard  of  living. 

One  can  speak  with  more  enthusiasm  of  the  pro- 
tection assured  the  worker  from  accident,  sickness, 
and  old  age  through,  the  insurance  funds.  Even 
the  Socialist  admits  that  these  are  steps  in  the  right 
direction  and  have  materially  improved  the  condi- 
tion of  the  working  classes. 

192 


SOCIAL  INSURANCE  AND  DEMOCRACY      193 

The  insurance  laws  date  back  to  the  early  eighties, 
a  generation  ago,  when  Bismarck  was  engaged  in 
his  struggle  with  the  rapidly  growing  movement 
for  social  democracy.  He  hoped  through  remedial 
social  legislation  to  undermine  the  following  of  the 
party.  But  Bismarck  was  more  than  a  political 
opportunist  when  he  said  in  1882:  "It  is  the  tradi- 
tion of  the  dynasty  which  I  serve  that  it  takes  the 
part  of  the  weaker  ones  in  the  economic  struggle." 

And  in  discussing  the  various  measures  which  he 
had  in  mind  for  this  purpose,  Bismarck  said  in  the 
course  of  a  debate:  "The  end  I  have  in  view  is  the 
establishment  of  an  institution  having  state  support 
and  extending  to  the  whole  empire,  for  the  main- 
tenance of  old  and  infirm  persons,"  and  in  another 
speech  on  the  same  general  subject  he  said: 

r'The  domain  of  legislation  which  we  enter  with 
this  law  .  .  .  deals  with  a  question  which  will  not 
soon  disappear  from  the  order  of  the  day.  For 
fifty  years  we  have  been  speaking  of  the  social  ques- 
tion. Since  the  passage  of  the  Socialist  Law  I  have 
continually  been  reminded  that  a  promise  was  then 
given  that  something  positive  should  also  be  done 
to  remove  the  legitimate  causes  of  Socialism.  I 
have  had  the  reminder  in  mind  tola  die  up  to  this 
very  moment,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  either  our 
sons  or  grandsons  will  quite  dispose  of  the  social 
question  which  has  been  hovering  before  us  for 
fifty  years.  No  political  question  can  be  brought 
to  a  perfect  mathematical  conclusion,  so  that  book 
balances  can  be  drawn  up;  these  questions  rise  up, 


194  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

have  their  day,  and  then  disappear  among  other 
questions  of  history;  that  is  the  way  of  organic  de- 
velopment." 

This  was  the  appeal  of  Bismarck  in  support  of  his 
proposal  for  a  comprehensive  series  of  laws  for  com- 
pulsory insurance  against  accident,  sickness,  and  old 
age,  spectres  which  pursue  the  average  working  man 
from  youth  till  old  age. 

The  insurance  laws  for  sickness  were  enacted  in 
1883,  for  accidents  in  1884,  and  for  old  age  and  in- 
validity in  1889.  All  this  legislation  was  codified 
and  amended  by  the  law  of  1911,  which  embodies  the 
experience  of  previous  administration. 

Insurance  against  sickness  is  provided  for  those 
employed  in  factories,  mines,  workshops,  quarries, 
transportation,  and  other  industries.  Employees 
of  public  enterprises  are  also  covered,  as  are  agri- 
cultural laborers,  household  servants,  teachers,  and 
practically  all  wage-earners  receiving  less  than  2,000 
marks  a  year.  The  sickness-insurance  funds  are 
of  various  kinds.  There  are  local  funds  provided 
by  the  parishes  for  all  of  the  trades  within  their 
limits;  while  many  of  the  large  industries  have 
funds  of  their  own,  as  do  the  miners  and  the  build- 
ing trades. 

All  of  the  funds  provide  for  free  medical  and  sur- 
gical attendance,  hospital  treatment  and  supplies, 
as  well  as  sick  pay  from  the  third  day  of  sickness. 
The  benefits  amount  to  from  one-half  to  three- 


SOCIAL  INSURANCE  AND  DEMOCRACY      195 

fourths  of  the  daily  wages  received  by  the  bene- 
ficiary or  the  income  upon  which  his  assessment  is 
based.  The  pay  is  continued  for  not  more  than 
twenty-six  weeks,  after  which  time,  if  the  illness 
still  continues,  the  burden  is  transferred  to  the  acci- 
dent-insurance fund. 

The  sickness-insurance  fund  is  maintained  by  con- 
tribution from  the  working  men,  the  employers, 
and  to  some  extent  from  the  community.  Generally 
the  employee  pays  two-thirds  of  the  premium  and 
the  employer  one-third,  the  liability  of  both  being 
ascertained  by  periodic  reports  from  the  employer 
as  to  the  number  of  employees  liable  to  insurance. 
The  premiums  are  collected  by  stoppage,  the  em- 
ployer deducting  the  assessments  of  the  employees 
when  wages  are  paid,  which,  along  with  his  own 
share,  are  then  transmitted  to  the  fund.  The  ex- 
pense to  the  worker  is  from  1^  to  4  per  cent,  of  his 
wages. 

The  administration  of  the  funds  is  largely  in  the 
hands  of  boards  chosen  by  the  employers  and  the 
employees.  General  meetings  are  held,  to  which 
all  persons  who  contribute  to  the  fund  may  come, 
at  which  meetings  the  delegates  who  have  charge 
of  the  insurance  are  elected. 

A  second  insurance  fund  is  provided  against 
accident.  The  provisions  of  this  law  cover  sub- 
stantially the  same  classes  as  those  covered  by  sick- 
ness insurance,  and  the  method  of  administration 


196  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

is  substantially  the  same.  Every  employer  is  bound 
to  provide  insurance  against  accident.  Upon  open- 
ing a  factory  he  automatically  becomes  a  member 
of  the  trade  association  covering  his  business,  and  is 
bound  to  contribute  to  the  insurance  fund.  This 
fund  is  managed  by  the  executive  board  of  the  trades, 
which  has  power  to  classify  trades  and  fix  the  danger 
schedule.  But  better  than  this,  the  board  has  power 
to  enforce  rules  and  appliances  for  the  prevention  of 
accidents.  If  a  member  refuses  to  abide  by  the 
ruling  of  the  board,  he  may  be  fined  for  his  neglect  or 
his  danger  rating  increased. 

By  this  means  the  employers  are  stimulated  to 
introduce  safety  devices,  while  the  special  knowledge 
on  the  part  of  the  individual  trade  association  leads 
to  a  better  administration  of  the  rules  than  would  be 
possible  on  the  part  of  the  state.  In  all  of  these 
matters  the  employees  are  consulted.  They  are 
also  allowed  representation  on  the  executive  board. 

Benefits  under  the  accident-insurance  law  are  not 
left  to  judicial  inquiry.  The  employee  is  not  put  to 
the  expense  and  delay  of  a  long  litigation.  Even 
though  the  employee  is  negligent,  he  is  entitled  to 
compensation,  unless  there  should  be  evidence  that 
he  intentionally  brought  the  accident  upon  himself. 
Here,  as  in  sickness,  the  cost  of  human  losses  in  in- 
dustry is  shifted  in  part  onto  the  cost  of  production. 
It  is  passed  on  to  the  community  where  it  belongs. 
It  is  treated  as  an  inevitable  incident  to  industrial 


SOCIAL  INSURANCE  AND  DEMOCRACY       197 

conditions.  Germany  does  not  compel  the  worker 
to  make  a  vicarious  sacrifice  for  the  community. 

The  amount  of  the  compensation  paid  depends 
upon  the  wages  of  the  employee  and  the  extent  of 
the  injury.  If  he  is  wholly  incapacitated  by  the 
accident,  he  receives  a  full  pension,  which  amounts  to 
two-thirds  of  his  yearly  wage.  If  he  is  still  able  to 
work,  the  pension  is  adjusted  to  his  earning  ability. 
In  case  of  accident  which  results  in  death,  an  imme- 
diate payment  of  about  one-sixth  of  the  yearly  wage 
is  paid.  In  addition  to  this  the  widow  and  depen- 
dent children  are  pensioned,  the  widow  until  her 
death  or  remarriage  and  the  dependent  children  up 
to  their  fifteenth  year.  In  this  event  the  annual 
pension  does  not  exceed  60  per  cent,  of  the  annual 
wage. 

Not  only  is  the  German  workman  insured  against 
sickness,  which  marks  the  beginning  of  much  of  the 
poverty  of  our  cities,  as  well  as  against  the  accidents 
of  industrial  establishments,  but  since  1891  prac- 
tically all  German  working  men  and  working  women 
over  sixteen  years  of  age  are  insured  against  old  age. 
Those  whose  earnings  exceed  $500  are  not  covered  by 
old-age  insurance  nor  are  the  higher  class  of  em- 
ployees and  servants.  The  administration  of  this 
branch  is  carried  on  by  insurance  societies,  which 
cover  certain  sections,  or  by  the  state  at  large.  All 
of  them  are  under  the  supervision  of  the  state  and  are 
controlled  by  the  employers  and  the  employees.  The 


198  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

old-age  funds  are  supplied  by  the  employers  and  the 
employees,  who  contribute  in  equal  shares  to  the  fund. 
To  this  the  empire  adds  $12.50  toward  every  pen- 
sioner. The  cost  to  the  worker  is  about  the  same 
as  the  sickness  insurance.  In  order  to  enjoy  old- 
age  insurance  persons  must  have  made  their  pre- 
scribed contributions  to  the  fund;  they  must  have 
been  members  for  a  certain  length  of  time  and  have 
either  become  disabled  or  reached  their  seventieth 
year.  The  premiums  of  the  employees  are  deducted 
by  the  employer  weekly  and  are  attached  to  cards 
by  means  of  stamps  at  the  time  of  the  payment  of 
the  wages. 

The  amount  of  the  old-age  benefit  received,  it  is 
true,  is  not  very  large.  It  is  not  sufficient  in  itself 
to  support  the  recipient.  It  amounts  to  from  $27.50 
to  $60  a  year,  according  to  the  wages  enjoyed  or  the 
premiums  paid  by  the  beneficiary. 

An  overwhelming  majority  of  the  population  are 
covered  by  one  or  all  of  these  insurance  funds.  The 
population  of  Germany  is  67,000,000,  or  approxi- 
mately 13,000,000  families.  In  1908  there  were 
13,189,509  persons  of  all  classes  insured  against 
sickness.  The  contributions  amounted  to  $91,491,- 
000,  and  the  insurance  paid  out  in  benefits  of  all 
kinds  was  $82,762,000.  The  number  insured  against 
accident  in  the  same  year  was  23,674,000,  the  amount 
collected  was  $51,887,000,  and  the  compensation 
and  benefits  paid  to  the  insured  and  their  dependents 


SOCIAL  INSURANCE  AND  DEMOCRACY      199 

was  $39,471,000.  The  number  insured  against  old 
age  and  invalidity  was  15,554,000;  the  contributions 
by  the  employers  and  the  employees  amounted  to 
$71,470,500,  and  the  sums  paid  in  pensions  and 
other  benefits,  $45,369,000.  The  average  amount 
of  old-age  pensions  paid  in  1905  was  about  $40. 
During  the  twenty  years  from  1885  to  1905  the  sick 
benefits  paid  to  working  people  amounted  to  $687,- 
820,000,  the  accident  benefits  to  $229,475,000,  and 
the  old-age  and  invalidity  since  1891  to  $290,540,000. 
All  told  there  has  been  paid  the  colossal  sum  of  $1,- 
276,835,000  by  these  three  insurance  funds.  Of  this 
total  the  working  classes  paid  less  than  one-half, 
the  employers  a  somewhat  larger  share,  while  the 
empire  contributed  $96,700,000. 

Speaking  of  the  insurance  funds  and  their  bene- 
fits, Professor  W.  J.  Ashley,  of  England,  says: 

"  (1)  Two-thirds  of  all  the  wage-earning  work- 
people in  Germany  are  insured  against  sickness,  and 
can  confidently  look  forward  to  receiving,  in  case  of 
need,  both  medical  assistance  and  pecuniary  relief; 
i.  e.,  there  is  a  much  narrower  fringe  of  people  totally 
unprovided  for.  (2)  A  considerable  part  (one-third) 
of  the  cost  is  compulsorily  borne  by  the  employers. 
(3)  Thirteen  out  of  sixteen  wage-earning  work- 
people have  a  right  to  a  small  pension  in  case  of 
permanent  incapacity,  or  on  reaching  the  age  of 
seventy — a  far  larger  number  than  the  few  who  in 
England  benefit  by  friendly  society  pensions.  .  .  . 
The  pension  is  small,  varying  from  about  two  shil- 
lings to  five  shillings  a  week.  But,  added  to  other 


200  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY  j 

means  of  livelihood,  it  will  often  make  all  the  differ- 
ence between  a  pinched  but  possible  existence  and 
absolute  starvation;  and  it  is  to  be  remembered 
that  it  can  be  claimed  as  a  right  and  not  as  a  charity. 
(4)  Almost  two-fifths  of  the  cost  of  this  is  also 
compulsorily  borne  by  the  employers."1 

The  cost  of  these  insurance  schemes  is  a  substan- 
tial burden  to  the  employing  classes.  Yet,  in  spite 
of  the  increased  ^cost  which  it  entails,  German  in- 
dustry has  not  suffered  in  competition  with  the 
world.  The  system  is  empire-wide,  and  the  contri- 
butions assessed  against  the  employer  are  passed 
on  to  the  cost  of  production  like  any  other  charges. 
It  is  also  probably  true  that  the  efficiency  and  well- 
being  of  the  working  classes  has  been  so  greatly 
improved  that  the  employers  themselves  have  gained 
by  reason  of  the  insurance. 

One  cannot  exaggerate  the  effect  of  the  insurance 
legislation  on  the  mind  of  the  worker.  The  fear, 
uncertainty,  and  even  terror  which  are  ever  present  in 
his  mind  are  relieved.  The  contributions,  it  is  true, 
are  not  very  generous;  the  worker  is  compelled  to 
make  contributions  to  the  funds,  and  the  administra- 
tion of  the  law  has  some  defects.  But  even  the  So- 
cialists are  inclined  to  admit  the  advantage  of  these 
laws.  Edmund  Fischer  said  of  them  in  1905: 

"Let  the  Industrial  Insurance  legislation  be  de- 
preciated as  it  may,  it  must  nevertheless  be  con- 

1  The  Progress  of  the  German  Working  Classes  in  the  Last  Quarter 
of  a  Century,  p.  18. 


SOCIAL  INSURANCE  AND  DEMOCRACY      201 

f  essed  that  the  old-age  and  invalidity  pensioners  take 
quite  another  social  position  to  that  of  the  incapaci- 
tated grandfather  of  twenty-five  years  ago,  who  was 
a  load  upon  his  children  or  was  exposed  to  the 
scandal  of  being  maintained  by  the  parish.  Every 
increase  of  the  pensions  is  thus  a  piece  of  civilizing 
work.  The  social  laws  are,  it  is  true,  only  founda- 
tion walls,  but  they  are  these  at  least,  and  for  that 
reason  they  are  the  beginning  of  a  great  fabric  of 
human  solidarity." 

Taking  a  more  practical  view  of  the  question, 
Herr  Paul  Kampfmeyer,  the  Socialist  writer,  said 
recently  in  the  Sozialistische  Monatshefte :  "The 
German  industrial  insurance  legislation  has  had 
almost  the  same  effect  for  labor  as  protective  leg- 
islation. It  means  an  actual  economic  gain  of  a 
milliard  and  a  half  of  marks"  ($375,000,000). 

Aside  from  the  positive  accomplishments  of  the 
state  in  these  lines  of  social  reform,  one  is  impressed 
with  the  seriousness  with  which  the  cities  as  well 
as  the  nation  are  considering  the  whole  question 
of  protection  and  care  of  the  people.  There  are 
numerous  conferences,  attended  by  representatives 
from  the  empire  and  the  various  states,  from  the 
cities,  the  universities,  and  the  philanthropic  socie- 
ties. The  best  thought  of  the  nation  is  given  to 
the  study  of  ways  and  means  for  the  solution  of  the 
many  problems  which  arise  in  connection  with  un- 
employment, with  the  hazards  of  industry,  with  the 
poor  and  the  destitute  members  of  the  community. 


202  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

Poverty  has  not  been  abolished  in  Germany. 
Industrial  depression  takes  its  tribute  there  just 
as  it  does  with  us.  But  the  impressive  thing  about 
it  all  is  that  the  nation  views  these  questions  with 
something  of  the  same  seriousness  that  it  does  the 
building  of  dreadnaughts,  railways,  or  canals,  the 
adjustment  of  taxes,  and  the  building  of  cities.  It 
calls  to  its  aid  the  state  and  the  municipality  for  the 
training  of  the  body  and  the  mind  as  well  as  for  the 
keeping  of  the  worker  in  as  high  a  state  of  efficiency 
as  possible. 

It  is,  of  course,  difficult  to  measure  the  effect  of 
this  legislation  or  to  make  accurate  comparisons  of 
labor  conditions  in  different  countries.  There  are 
so  many  elements  involved.  And  it  is  hard  to  por- 
tray the  exact  conditions  of  the  working  classes. 
The  German  artisan  works  long  hours  at  exhausting 
labor;  his  wages  are  low  in  comparison  with  those 
which  prevail  in  America;  housing  conditions  are 
very  bad,  not  only  in  the  city  but  in  the  country, 
and  the  worker  is  far  from  enjoying  the  freedom  of 
action  or  the  hopeful  outlook  of  this  country.  Pov- 
erty of  the  most  distressing  kind  still  prevails,  the 
life  of  the  people  is  in  many  ways  poor  and  sordid, 
the  unrest  of  the  workers  and  their  political  demands 
are  all  justified  by  conditions.  It  would  be  false  to 
suggest  that  Germany  had  made  any  revolutionary 
changes  in  these  matters  or  aimed  at  a  programme 
of  industrial  justice  or  political  equality.  But  some 


SOCIAL  INSURANCE  AND  DEMOCRACY      203 

things  can  be  accepted.  In  the  first  place  emigra- 
tion has  almost  ceased  from  the  German  cities.  The 
worker  is  better  satisfied  with  what  he  gets  at  home 
than  by  the  promise  of  greater  rewards  in  the  new 
countries.  He  has  the  assurance  of  protection 
against  the  worst  misfortunes  that  can  befall  him; 
and  if  he  does  not  amass  wealth  he  at  least  knows 
that  sickness,  accident,  and  old  age  have  lost  some 
of  their  terrors.  The  legislation  of  Germany  has 
been  directed  against  the  misery  and  waste  of  the 
worker  rather  than  against  his  low  wages  or  his  in- 
dustrial and  political  status.  These  are  gains  which 
he  has  to  make  for  himself.  And  the  worker  recog- 
nizes that  fact.  It  is  for  these  that  he  organizes 
into  the  trade-union,  it  is  this  that  lures  him  to  the 
Socialist  party,  it  is  this  that  lies  back  of  the  cease- 
less propaganda  that  is  carried  on. 

And  it  should  be  noted  that  this  paternalistic 
legislation  has  not  had  the  effect  which  Bismarck 
anticipated.  It  has  not  reduced  the  Socialist  vote, 
which  has  grown  from  year  to  year  with  almost  un- 
checked rapidity.  In  1871  the  party  elected  2 
members  to  the  Reichstag,  in  1875  9,  in  1877 
12.  In  1871  the  total  vote  was  124,655,  in  1875 
it  rose  to  351,952,  and  in  1877  to  493,288.  Despite 
the  repressive  laws  adopted  after  the  attempt  on 
the  life  of  the  Emperor  and  the  enactment  of  the 
insurance  laws  which  were  expected  to  satisfy  the 
worker,  the  growth  in  the  Socialist  vote  continued, 


204 


SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


although  the  vote  in  1881  fell  to  312,000.  In  1884 
it  rose  to  539,000,  in  1887  to  763,000,  in  1890  to 
1,427,000.  Since  then  the  vote  as  well  as  the  rep- 
resentation in  the  Reichstag  has  continued  to  in- 
crease with  each  election.  The  vote  and  the  rep- 
resentation in  subsequent  years  are  as  follows: 


YEABS 

TOTAL  VOTE 

REPRESENTATIVES 
ELECTED  TO 
REICHSTAG 

1893  

1,787,000 

44 

1898  

2,107,000 

56 

1903.  .  . 

3,011,000 

81 

1907  

3,259,000 

43 

1912 

4,250,000 

110 

Political  agitation  and  compulsory  education 
have  created  a  hunger  in  the  mind  of  the  German 
workman  for  further  enlightenment.  More  than  any 
worker  in  the  world,  he  seems  to  realize  the  value 
of  knowledge  and  its  aid  to  him  in  the  bettering  of 
his  condition  and  the  enrichment  of  his  life.  And 
the  German  worker  has  evolved  many  agencies  of 
his  own  for  satisfying  this  new  desire. 

One  of  the  Socialist  deputies  in  the  Reichstag 
recently  said:  "You  do  not  know  the  workman's 
pride.  We  support  ourselves  by  the  work  of  our 
hands,  and  on  labor  work  ourselves  upward.  We 
have  painfully  educated  ourselves  in  the  evening  and 
night  hours,  while  to  you  education  came  without 
effort,  yet  I  would  not  exchange  intellectual  power 
with  you." 


SOCIAL  INSURANCE  AND  DEMOCRACY      205 

Many  opportunities  for  culture  have  been  created 
by  the  workmen  themselves.  Educational  associa- 
tions are  to  be  found  in  the  towns,  many  of  which 
have  existed  for  years.  More  recently  they  have 
become  training-schools  for  socialism.  Special  edu- 
cational committees  are  formed  in  connection  with 
the  local  trades  council,  or  trade-union,  which  pro- 
vide intellectual  and  recreative  opportunities  for 
members  of  the  Social  Democratic  party.  Lectures 
are  given  on  socialism,  science,  history,  ethics,  and 
natural  science.  The  stereopticon  is  widely  used. 
Musical,  literary,  and  dramatic  performances  are 
also  held,  as  well  as  exhibitions  for  the  dissemination 
of  general  knowledge.  The  Socialists  have  a  school 
in  Berlin  where  classes  are  held  throughout  the 
winter  months,  in  which  such  subjects  as  political 
economy,  sociology,  jurisprudence,  history,  rhetoric, 
and  other  subjects  are  studied.  The  classes  do  not 
begin  until  nine  o'clock  and  last  for  an  hour  and  a 
half.  Similar  institutions  have  been  arranged  in 
other  cities,  there  being  no  charge  or  an  insignificant 
one  for  attendance.  The  only  condition  is  that  the 
member  shall  belong  to  the  Socialist  party.  In 
Munich  the  Working  Men's  Educational  Associa- 
tion offers  twenty  courses  of  lectures,  varying  from 
two  to  twelve  in  number,  and  the  subjects  studied, 
among  others,  are  the  following:  "Introduction  to 
political  economy,"  "agrarian  reform  and  policy/' 
"political  and  culture  history  of  the  nineteenth 


206  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

century,"  "evolutionary  periods  in  Bavarian  his- 
tory," "history  of  political  parties  in  Germany," 
"industrial  insurance,"  "international  law,"  "the 
development  of  co-operation  in  Germany,"  "modern 
poets  and  thinkers,"  "Albrecht  Diirer,"  "the 
German  language,"  and  "theories  of  criminal 
psychology." 

The  lecturers  are  for  the  most  part  political  and 
party  leaders,  members  of  'parliament,  trade-union 
leaders,  editors,  and  social  authors.  The  economic 
subjects  are  most  popular.  They  are  listened  to  by 
crowded  audiences  of  working  men  and  women  who 
attend  them  after  a  long  day's  work. 

The  working  men,  as  in  Belgium  and  Denmark, 
are  also  developing  an  artistic  and  dramatic  life  of 
their  own.  In  Berlin  there  is  a  "  free  people's  stage/' 
where  dramatic  performances  of  a  high  order  are 
given  at  a  small  cost.  The  cheap  and  tawdry  finds 
no  place  in  these  performances,  the  dramas  being 
mostly  of  a  political  and  social  order.  Such  names 
as  Schiller,  Ibsen,  Hauptmann,  and  Sudermann 
are  the  most  popular.  There  are  tragedies  of 
Shakespeare  and  Goethe  as  well  as  good  modern 
comedies.  The  same  organization  provides  sports 
and  recreation  on  Sunday  in  the  suburbs,  the  chil- 
dren being  led  to  then-  playgrounds  by  bands  and 
members  of  the  working  men's  party. 

In  recent  years  the  temperance  movement  has 
taken  hold  of  the  German  working  man.  Germany 


SOCIAL  INSURANCE  AND  DEMOCRACY      207 

is  the  last  country  in  the  world  where  prohibition 
would  seem  a  hopeful  propaganda,  yet  during  recent 
years  the  agitation  for  temperance  has  made  great 
headway.  Drunkenness  has  never  been  a  German 
vice,  even  though  the  Germans  and  especially  the 
Bavarians  are  great  beer-drinking  people.  But  the 
idea  has  gained  ground  that  the  use  of  alcohol  is 
detrimental  to  the  individual  worker  as  well  as  the 
working-class  movement.  And  socialism  has  pro- 
moted the  policy  of  abstention.  The  movement  is 
not  a  moral  one.  Nor  is  it  stimulated  by  such  or- 
ganizations as  exist  in  America  and  England.  It  is 
purely  utilitarian  and  is  inspired  by  a  growing  ap- 
preciation of  the  evils  which  result  from  the  use  of 
alcoholic  beverages.  This  is  not  the  only  influence 
leading  to  temperance  in  Germany.  Yet  it  is  prob- 
ably the  most  influential  one.  The  extent  to  which 
this  movement  has  reached  the  working  classes  is 
seen  in  the  fact  that  during  twenty  years  the  con- 
sumption of  beer  has  fallen  in  Munich  from 
to  64J4  gallons  per  head. 


CHAPTER  XV 

HIGHER    EDUCATION-PROVIDING    THE 
EXPERT 

ONE  need  not  be  an  expert  to  appreciate  the 
extent  to  which  German  science  contributes  to  in- 
dustry, trade,  and  the  arts  of  war.  And  one  need 
not  be  an  educator  to  see  in  the  schools  of  the 
country  one  of  the  great,  possibly  the  greatest  of 
all,  influences  in  her  almost  single-handed  power. 
Germany  is  the  land  of  the  schoolmaster.  The  edu- 
cators and  the  war  minister  are  the  guiding  spirits 
in  her  life.  Beginning  at  the  top,  there  are  21  uni- 
versities with  an  enrolment  of  66,000  students. 
These  are  not  colleges  in  the  American  sense  of  the 
term,  preparing  students  for  a  Bachelor  of  Arts 
degree;  they  are  advanced  institutions,  conferring 
the  degrees  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  of  Law,  Medi- 
cine, and  Science.  The  gymnasium  corresponds 
roughly  with  our  colleges;  the  university  with  the 
postgraduate  departments  of  Harvard,  Columbia, 
Johns  Hopkins,  Chicago,  and  a  half  dozen  great  State 
universities,  which  enroll  in  these  advanced  courses 
not  to  exceed  a  few  thousand  men.  Germany  could 
be  put  inside  the  confines  of  Texas  and  still  leave 
room  for  Switzerland.  Yet  this  relatively  small  na- 

208 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  209 

tion  geographically  has  a  great  army  of  men  pre- 
paring for  the  severest  kind  of  competition  in  the 
business,  professional,  and  scientific  walks  of  life. 

Higher  education  had  its  beginning  in  the  awaken- 
ing of  Germany  following  the  Napoleonic  oppression. 
The  University  of  Berlin  was  founded  in  1810.  It 
was  followed  by  Breslau,  1811;  Bonn,  1818;  and  Mu- 
nich, 1826.  There  had  been  universities  before  of 
the  mediaeval  type,  but  these  new  state  foundations 
were  part  of  a  consciously  directed  movement,  to 
recreate  Germany,  like  the  political  and  industrial 
reforms  of  Stein  and  Hardenberg. 

Friedrich  Paulsen  says  of  the  founding  of  the 
University  of  Berlin: 

"It  had  been  intended,  from  the  first,  to  become  a 
centre  of  German  science  and  learning — an  im- 
perishable monument  of  the  strength  and  self-sacri- 
fice which  enabled  the  prostrate  state  to  rise  again 
and  at  the  same  time  of  the  spirit  in  which  this  ele- 
vation was  effected.  The  king  himself  at  one  time 
defined  that  spirit  by  saying  that  the  Prussian  state 
would  have  to  make  up  for  its  loss  in  physical  by 
intellectual  forces.  The  new  idea  that  came  in  with 
the  University  of  Berlin  was  that  the  university 
should  be  above  all  the  workshop  of  free  scientific 
research.  From  the  very  beginning  the  first  quali- 
fication for  membership  on  the  teaching  staff  was 
skill  in  scientific  research  rather  than  teaching  ability. 
University  work  was  divested  of  everything  that 
smacked  of  the  school  or  secondary  school."1 

1  German  Education  Past  and  Present,  book  4,  chapter  II. 


210  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

The  same  spirit  animates  the  universities  to-day. 
The  German  student  enters  the  university  after  he 
has  completed  his  leaving  examination  from  the 
Gymnasium.  He  enters  it  as  men  in  America  enter 
the  professional  school,  with  a  definite  faculty  and 
a  definite  goal  before  him.  He  has  generally  chosen 
his  profession;  he  is  preparing  for  life,  and  the  uni- 
versity is  definitely  adjusted  to  his  choice.  There 
are  faculties  of  the  greatest  variety  of  subjects, 
many  of  them  definitely  designed  for  the  civil  service, 
whether  it  be  law,  state  administration,  the  adminis- 
tration of  cities,  education,  or  science.  And  back  of 
the  efficiency  of  Germany  in  all  her  governmental 
activities  is  the  training  provided  in  the  universities 
and  technical  schools,  which  is  a  prerequisite  in  most 
instances  to  examination  for  the  state  service. 

Following  1870  a  new  development  took  place  in 
higher  education.  It  involved  an  emphasis  upon 
natural  sciences,  above  all  on  chemistry,  with  tech- 
nological practice,  through  which  "  science  has  liter- 
ally been  turned  into  a  gold-mine."  New  fields  of 
research  and  new  chairs  are  continually  being  added, 
while  new  types  of  universities  are  being  opened  like 
those  of  Frankfort  and  Diisseldorf . 

Growing  out  of  the  emphasis  upon  exact  science, 
eleven  technical  universities  (technische  Hochschu- 
leri)  have  been  established.  They  have  the  same 
standing  as  the  regular  universities  and  require  an 
equally  exacting  training,  though  with  less  Latin 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  211 

and  Greek.  These  schools  train  for  the  higher 
technical  professions,  such  as  architecture,  engineer- 
ing, chemistry,  mechanical  engineering,  naval  en- 
gineering, and  are  one  of  the  contributing  factors  to 
the  scientific  achievements  and  the  highly  trained 
civil  service  of  the  state.  These  universities  are 
generally  located  in  the  large  cities.  They  enjoy  an 
extraordinary  prosperity  and  attract  students  from 
all  countries. 

Speaking  of  the  technical  colleges,  Professor 
Cooley  says: 

"No  other  institutions  seem  to  have  been  more 
important  in  promoting  the  great  industries  of  Ger- 
many. They  illustrate  Germany's  patient  toil  and 
tenacity  in  seeking  success  in  the  industrial  world  by 
rational  means  and  scientific  methods.  They  are 
institutions  devoted  to  the  adaptation  of  science  and 
education  to  the  necessities  of  economic  life. "  1 

These  technical  universities  enroll  17,000  students, 
which,  added  to  the  attendance  at  the  universities, 
brings  the  total  enrolment  of  the  higher  research  in- 
stitutions up  to  83,000. 

But  the  opportunities  for  advanced  education  do 
not  end  with  the  universities  and  technical  schools. 
There  are  3  schools  of  mines,  8  agricultural  colleges 
attached  to  the  universities,  5  veterinary  colleges, 
and  commercial  colleges  of  advanced  rank  at  Leipsic, 
Cologne,  Frankfort,  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  Hanover. 

1  Vocational  Education  in  Europe,  p.  173. 


212  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

Prussia  has  an  agricultural  college  in  Berlin  with  de- 
partments for  the  sugar  industry  and  the  manufac- 
ture of  yeast  and  starch.  There  are  forestry  schools 
for  those  preparing  to  enter  the  government  for- 
estry service.  Berlin  has  a  school  of  town-planning, 
Diisseldorf  has  recently  opened  a  college  of  municipal 
administration,  and  Frankfort  has  just  dedicated  a 
municipal  university,  similar  in  rank  to  the  older 
foundations  of  the  empire. 

In  addition  to  the  above  there  are  424  commercial 
and  industrial  schools  of  lower  rank,  which  prepare 
men  for  business  and  industrial  pursuits,  whose 
courses  include  modern  languages,  international  law. 
and  business  efficiency. 

Other  special  schools  are  provided  by  the  cities, 
planned  for  particular  purposes  or  for  boys  and  girls 
of  talent.  There  are  textile  schools  in  those  parts 
of  Germany  where  the  textile  industry  prevails. 
Essen  has  schools  devoted  to  training  in  the  iron 
and  steel  industry,  while  similar  schools  exist  for  the 
building  trades,  for  machine  trades,  and  for  other 
industrial  ends.  Altogether  there  are  200  such 
special  high  schools,  in  addition  to  the  technical 
and  commercial  universities. 

The  training  received  in  these  schools  explains  the 
wonderful  skill  of  the  German  workman;  the  facility, 
ingenuity,  and  diversity  of  German  industry.  Of 
special  influence  in  this  field  are  the  higher  schools 
for  industrial  art,  which  cultivate  the  faculty  of 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  213 

imagination  and  invention  rather  than  mere  tech- 
nical skill.  Some  of  these  schools  are  general,  some 
are  special.  But  in  each  case  they  endeavor  to 
adapt  their  courses  of  study  to  local  industrial  con- 
ditions. This  is  particularly  true  of  the  industrial 
art  schools,  like  those  of  Munich,  Frankfort,  and 
Dlisseldorf.  In  these  schools  we  find  courses  for 
decorators,  furniture  designers,  scupltors,  modellers, 
and  jewellers,  while  many  of  the  schools  have  other 
courses  for  engravers,  etchers,  enamellers,  litho- 
graphers, book  designers,  and  landscape-gardeners. 
There  are  courses  in  women's  artistic  handicrafts. 
All  of  these  schools  have  workshops  to  protect  the 
pupils  from  becoming  mere  draftsmen.1  Evening 
and  Sunday  courses  are  provided  for  workmen  who 
cannot  afford  to  attend  the  schools  during  their 
working  hours. 

When  we  consider  the  universities,  technical 
schools,  commercial  colleges,  and  special  schools  of 
various  kinds,  enrolling  several  hundred  thousand 
students,  specializing  to  the  last  degree  along  every 
line  of  thought,  science,  and  industry,  and  compare 
this  provision  for  the  training  of  a  nation  with  the 
educational  equipment  of  England,  France,  or  even 
the  United  States,  we  find  an  explanation,  for  the 
most  part  an  overlooked  explanation,  of  the  founda- 
tions of  modern  Germany;  of  the  industrial  discover- 
ies, the  contributions  of  science  to  industry,  the 

1  Cooley,  Vocational  Education  in  Europe. 


214  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

development  of  the  by-product,  of  intensive  mining 
and  agriculture,  and  the  expansion  of  the  state  from 
an  agricultural  country  of  a  generation  ago  into  the 
most  dominating  industrial  nation  of  modern  Europe. 

There  are  faults  in  the  system.  There  is  a  terrible 
pressure  of  highly  educated  men  struggling  for  every 
opening.  There  is  complaint  of  overwork,  of  de- 
fective eyes  and  even  of  defective  physique  as  a 
result  of  overtraining  and  too  great  pressure.  There 
is  undoubtedly  individual  waste  and  countless  disap- 
pointed ambitions.  All  these  are  vicarious  costs 
which  the  expansion  of  higher  education  involves  in  a 
country  of  relatively  limited  opportunities.  But 
education  itself  has  created  opportunities.  It  has 
created  new  industries.  The  wonder  is  not  that  the 
overcrowding  is  so  great,  but  that  it  is  relatively  so 
little,  in  view  of  all  the  conditions. 

Undoubtedly  Germany  is  the  most  highly  educated 
nation  in  the  world.  She  took  the  lead  in  the  move- 
ment for  the  universalization  of  higher  education. 
Her  universities  and  technical  schools  attract  men 
and  women  from  all  over  the  world.  They  have  pro- 
foundly influenced  higher  education  in  the  United 
States.  They  gave  us  the  postgraduate  course,  the 
seminar,  and  the  idea  of  research.  Our  higher 
universities  were  modelled  upon  those  of  Germany, 
just  as  our  colleges  were  modelled  upon  those  of 
Great  Britain. 

But  education  in  Germany  is  not  top-heavy  by 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  215 

any  means.  It  is  built  from  the  bottom  up,  with 
compulsory  education  for  all  classes  from  six  to 
fourteen  years  of  age.  There  is  no  illiteracy  in 
Germany,  or  practically  none.  It  amounted  to  .03 
per  cent,  in  1905.  In  France  illiteracy  is  14  per  cent., 
in  Great  Britain  13.52  per  cent.,  in  Italy  30.6  per 
cent.,  in  Austria  26  per  cent.,  in  Hungary  40.9  per 
cent.,  in  Russia  61.7  per  cent.,  while  in  the  United 
States  it  is  7.7  per  cent. 

Education  is  prized  by  all  classes.  It  is  looked 
upon  as  the  one  avenue  of  advancement.  It  is 
almost  exclusively  public  and  is  generously  sup- 
ported by  taxation.  Individual  cities  have  de- 
veloped educational  programmes  of  their  own  to 
meet  local  conditions,  to  encourage  industry,  to  at- 
tract residents.  Above  the  minimum  standard  pre- 
sented by  the  state  they  have  added  new  schools  and 
colleges  designed  to  promote  their  local  needs.  The 
schools  are  for  the  most  part  big  and  spacious.  They 
contain  the  most  modern  equipment,  and  the  ele- 
mentary schools  are  surrounded  by  playgrounds. 
Next  to  the  army  and  the  navy,  education  receives 
the  most  solicitous  thought  of  the  state.  It  is  recog- 
nized by  Kaiser,  minister,  local  authorities,  and  the 
people  as  the  open  road  to  national  greatness  and 
power. 

Below  the  universities  are  the  secondary  schools, 
the  gymnasia.  These  correspond  roughly  with  our 
colleges  and  high  schools  in  the  age  of  the  pupils, 


216  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

but  not  in  the  methods  employed.  The  gymnasia 
lead  directly  to  the  university,  the  average  length 
of  preparation  before  the  pupil  is  ready  for  college 
being  twelve  or  thirteen  years,  about  the  same  as  it  is 
in  this  country.  But  the  work  in  the  gymnasia,  so 
far  as  study  goes,  is  much  harder  than  it  is  in  this 
country  and  the  student  is  much  more  thoroughly 
trained  than  he  is  with  us. 

After  a  careful  study  of  America,  Doctor  Georg 
Kerschensteiner,  director  of  the  Munich  schools  and 
the  leading  exponent  of  continuation  along  vocational 
lines,  makes  this  comparison  with  the  German  and 
American  type  of  secondary  education:1 

"It  is  undeniable,  that  the  average  intellectual 
maturity  of  the  German  pupil  at  entrance  to  the 
university  is  considerably  higher  than  the  average 
intellectual  maturity  of  the  student  entering  the 
American  college.  In  my  opinion  this  is  due  to 
several  causes.  In  the  first  place  it  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  stricter  scientific  method  that  charac- 
terizes the  work  of  the  secondary  school  as  compared 
with  that  of  the  elementary  school,  begins  too  late, 
if  it  is  postponed  until  the  fourteenth  year,  as  in  the 
United  States.  The  habit  of  strict  logical  thinking 
cannot  be  inculcated  early  enough.  But  the  un- 
sifted scholastic  material  of  the  common  school 
does  not  permit  the  same  intellectual  demands  upon 
it  as  the  selected  material  of  the  secondary  school. 
Thus  the  secondary  schools  of  the  United  States 

1  "A  Comparison  of  Public  Education  in  Germany  and  the  United 
States,"  Doctor  Georg  Kerschensteiner,  United  States  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation Bulletin,  1913,  No.  24. 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  217 

not  only  start  their  work  too  late,  but  they  have  to 
eliminate  immediately  in  their  students  various 
habits  of  purely  empirical  thinking,  a  condition  with 
which  the  German  secondary  school  does  not  have 
to  contend.  Admittedly  the  secondary  school  in 
Germany  begins  too  early  when  it  starts  at  nine 
years  of  age,  but  just  as  surely  does  the  American 
secondary  school  begin  too  late." 

The  gymnasium  teacher  is  thoroughly  prepared. 
He  must  spend  at  least  four  years  at  the  university. 
This  is  followed  by  a  searching  state  examination 
and  a  year  of  pedagogical  training.  And  the  teach- 
ing is  excellent.  The  secondary  schools  have  highly 
equipped  teachers,  in  so  far  as  preparation  and  ex- 
aminations can  insure  them. 

The  discipline  in  the  German  gymnasia  is  very 
different  from  that  of  the  student  in  the  American 
high  school  or  college.  "The  American  high  school 
student, "  says  President  Pritchell  in  the  Fifth  Report 
of  the  Carnegie  Foundation,  "acquires  a  superficial 
knowledge  of  many  subjects  and  learns  none  with 
thoroughness.  He  lacks  the  hard  fibre  in  intellec- 
tual discipline. "  1  The  reverse  is  true  in  the  German 
gymnasia.  There  are  no  electives.  The  pupil  must 
take  the  course  as  laid  out  by  the  state  or  leave  school. 
And  he  is  trained  to  painstaking  intellectual  effort. 
He  acquires  patience,  persistence,  endurance,  and 
thoroughness,  which  are  the  virtues  promoted  by 

1  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin,  1913,  No.  24.  "  Com- 
parison of  Public  Education  in  Germany  and  the  United  States." 


218  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

German  education.  On  the  other  hand,  the  German 
gymnasia  fail  to  foster  many  of  the  qualities  of  the 
American  high  schools  or  colleges.  They  do  little 
to  promote  initiative,  good-fellowship,  and  cheer- 
fulness. There  are  none  of  the  many  out-of -school 
activities  which  are  characteristic  of  secondary  and 
college  education  in  America. 

The  high  schools,  or  gymnasia,  are  divided  into 
three  groups,  each  leading  to  a  definite  goal.  Up  to 
very  recently  the  classical  gymnasium  was  the  pre- 
vailing type.  It  trained  for  the  university,  with  the 
emphasis  placed  upon  Greek  and  Latin.  By  changes 
inaugurated  in  1901  the  monopoly  of  the  classics  was 
overthrown  and  provision  was  made  for  new  types 
of  preparatory  schools  leading  to  the  technical  high 
schools  and  the  special  universities.  The  Realgym- 
nasium  teaches  Latin  but  no  Greek;  it  favors  the 
modern  spirit  and  emphasizes  modern  languages 
and  science.  The  Oberrealschule,  however,  teaches 
neither  Latin  nor  Greek,  but  restricts  its  teaching  in 
the  main  to  subjects  of  practical  importance  along 
scientific  and  mechanical  lines.  All  three  types  have 
common  instruction  in  German,  history,  and  religion. 
It  is  only  through  the  classical  gymnasium  that  one 
may  enter  the  faculties  of  theology  and  philosophy 
in  the  higher  universities. 

A  great  advantage  of  the  long  gymnasium  course 
of  nine  years  is  that  it  permits  a  mastery  of  a  limited 
number  of  subjects  rather  than  a  diversified  smatter- 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  219 

ing  of  many.  In  the  Oberrealschule  in  Charlotten- 
burg,  for  instance,  six  years  are  devoted  to  the 
natural  sciences.  Similar  periods  are  devoted  to 
physics,  chemistry,  and  mathematics,  while  from  six 
to  nine  years  are  given  to  English,  history,  French, 
German,  and  geography.  This  is  the  foundation 
upon  which  the  student  enters  the  university  and 
the  technical  school.  The  work  has  been  confining, 
examinations  are  difficult,  and  the  student  has  ac- 
quired the  ability  to  concentrate,  to  master  a  given 
subject.  He  knows  how  to  work. 

When  the  boy  enters  the  university  a  reaction 
comes.  During  the  first  semesters  many  of  the 
students  loaf;  they  enter  the  student  corps;  they 
invite  their  souls  to  the  many  things  denied  them 
during  their  gymnasium  course.  This  is  the  play- 
time of  the  German  student,  and  he  takes  advantage 
of  the  opportunity.  He  registers  at  the  university 
and  is  free  to  attend  classes  or  not,  as  he  sees  fit. 
The  only  necessity  is  to  meet  the  final  searching 
examinations,  which  are  oral  as  well  as  written,  pre- 
liminary to  his  Doctor  degree.  He  usually  goes 
from  one  university  to  the  other,  in  order  that  he 
may  study  under  the  recognized  leaders  in  his  par- 
ticular branch.  And  then  during  the  last  eighteen 
months  or  two  years  of  his  course  he  reads  widely 
and  prepares  for  his  examinations,  usually  with  an 
eye  upon  one  of  the  professions  or  the  state  or  munic- 
ipal service. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION 

PRIMARY  education  is  compulsory  for  eight  years, 
and  for  ten  months  in  the  year,  all  over  Germany. 
The  compulsory  age  is  generally  from  six  to  fourteen. 
The  length  of  the  school  year  varies  from  forty  to 
forty-two  weeks,  all  vacations  together  amounting 
to  about  nine  weeks  in  the  cities  and  eight  weeks  in 
the  country  districts.  In  the  United  States  the 
length  of  the  school  year  is  often  as  low  as  eight 
months  and  sometimes  as  low  as  five  or  six  months. 
The  average  number  of  school  days  in  the  year 
1900-01  for  the  United  States  was  144.2.  It  ranged 
from  76.1  in  North  Carolina  to  191  in  Rhode  Island. 
It  is  true  that  North  Carolina,  which  had  not  even 
a  compulsory  education  law  (1912)  is  the  least  ad- 
vanced State  in  this  respect,  but  there  are  twenty- 
seven  States  in  which  the  average  attendance  was 
less  than  one  hundred  days,  or  between  three  and 
four  months.  The  average  child  in  Germany  spends 
more  weeks  in  school  and  more  hours  each  day  in 
study  than  does  the  child  in  the  more  advanced 
cities  in  this  country. 

The  German  Volksschule   (people's  school)  and 

220 


ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION  221 

Burgerschule  (citizens'  school),  with  their  eight- 
year  courses  of  study,  correspond  with  our  own  ele- 
mentary schools.  They  do  not  prepare  pupils  for 
high-school  work,  for  those  who  plan  to  continue 
their  education  into  the  gymnasium,  or  secondary 
school,  transfer  to  the  latter  after  the  third  or  fourth 
year  of  the  elementary  course.  As  a  consequence 
the  pupils  in  the  elementary  schools  are  more  homo- 
geneous; here  they  receive  their  whole  formal  school 
education,  from  which  they  go  out  into  the  world 
of  trade,  business,  or  farming,  as  their  necessities 
require. 

The  great  majority  of  the  pupils  attend  these  pub- 
lic schools,  which  are  supported  by  public  funds,  and 
tuition  is  usually  though  not  always  free.  In  Saxony 
a  small  fee  of  about  $1.25  or  $1.50  a  year  is  required 
of  the  parents,  unless  they  are  unable  to  pay. 

The  purpose  of  these  schools  is  eminently  prac- 
tical. They  train  the  children  in  religion,  good  con- 
duct, and  especially  patriotism,  which  is  empha- 
sized in  a  great  variety  of  ways.  In  addition,  they 
receive  general  instruction  in  civic  and  political  life. 
Morality  is  taught  through  religion,  children  of 
each  creed  being  taught  separately.  Behavior  is 
taught;  etiquette  is  made  a  special  point.  The  chil- 
dren learn  how  to  address  older  persons,  how  to 
enter  and  leave  a  room.  They  acquire  the  ability 
to  express  themselves  clearly  and  succinctly;  how  to 
observe  and  classify  their  observations. 


222 


SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


Thoroughness  (grundlichkeit)  is  the  prevailing  note 
in  the  elementary  schools.  Much  harder  work  is 
demanded  of  the  pupils  than  of  our  own.  Not  only 
is  the  school  year  considerably  longer  than  in  the 
United  States,  but  the  programme  for  the  last  three 
or  four  years  of  work  calls  for  thirty-two  hours  each 
week,  as  compared  with  twenty-five,  the  usual 
number  in  this  country.1 

Considerably  more  morning  work  is  done  than  in 
our  own  schools  but  less  in  the  afternoon.  School 
begins  at  eight  and  meets  every  week-day,  including 
Saturday.  The  work  is  usually  over  at  one  or  two 
o'clock,  and  the  school  day  is  broken  up  by  frequent 
recesses.  In  addition,  children  go  to  bed  early  and 
rise  early.  In  many  cities  they  may  not  frequent 

1  The  range  of  studies  in  the  elementary  schools  (Biirgerschulen*)  of 
Berlin  is  as  follows: 


SUBJECT 

6TH  YEAR 

?TH  YEAR 

STH  YEAR 

Religion  

Hours 
per  Week 
4 

Hours 
per  Week 
4 

Hours 
per  Week 
4 

Reading,  language,  spelling  

6 

6 

6 

Geography   

2 

2 

2 

History          .          ....          ... 

2 

2 

3 

Arithmetic 

4 

4 

4 

Geometry 

3 

3 

3 

Nature  study,  including  physiology, 
elementary  physics,  and  chemistry 
Drawing  

4 
2 

4 
2 

3 
2 

Singing  

2 

2 

2 

Gymnastics 

2 

2 

2 

Writing 

1 

1 

1 

32 

32 

32 

*The  Biirgerschulen  are  of  a  slightly  higher  grade  than  the  Volksschulen, 
which  are  the  predominant  type  in  the  country  districts. 

— George  Koeppel,  Elementary  School  Teacher,  December,  1912. 


ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION  223 

places  of  public  amusement  after  8  P.  M.  The  con- 
trol of  the  school  authorities  in  these  matters  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  police. 

Subsidiary  schools  of  different  types  are  provided 
by  many  cities  to  make  the  ordinary  schools  more 
efficient.  Some  cities  have  established  help  schools 
(Hilfsschuleri) ,  for  slow-minded  children.  These 
schools  have  shops  for  modelling,  pasteboard  and 
wood  work,  as  well  as  exhibition  rooms  for  the  pupils' 
work.  The  classes  are  small.  These  are  not  schools 
for  the  feeble-minded.  The  feeble-minded  are  taken 
care  of  in  special  institutions,  usually  in  the  country. 
They  correspond  rather  with  our  ungraded  classes. 
The  Hilfsschule,  however,  is  much  more  thoroughly 
organized  and  successful  in  meeting  the  problem 
of  the  backward  child.1  Mannheim  has  a  system 
of  forderklassen,  also  located  in  separate  buildings. 
These  are  designed  for  children  who,  through  lazi- 
ness, lack  of  ability,  etc.,  have  failed  of  promotion. 
Mannheim  has  another  series  of  classes  for  those  of 
special  ability,  who  are  given  special  opportunities 
for  study  and  advancement. 

In  Munich,  where  vocational  training  has  been  so 
wonderfully  developed,  the  last  year  of  the  elemen- 
tary course  is  designed  to  steer  the  boy  toward  a  def- 
inite calling  and  out  of  the  blind-alley  occupations. 
He  spends  five  hours  a  week  for  five  months  in  the 
year  in  the  metal-working  shop  of  the  school  and  the 

1Koeppel,  Elementary  School  Teacher,  December,  1912. 


224  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

same  amount  of  time  for  the  remaining  five  months 
in  the  wood- working  shop.  Girls  in  nearly  all  the 
classes  keep  their  own  kitchen-gardens.  Similar 
special  schools  are  found  in  other  cities. 

Education  in  Germany  is  highly  centralized. 
Many  experts  feel  that  it  is  too  much  so.  The  edu- 
cational programme  emanates  from  the  government 
rather  than  from  the  local  authorities,  and  the  people 
are  accustomed  to  accept  it  without  protest.  De- 
spite this  fact  education  commands  more  considera- 
tion and  thought  on  the  part  of  state  and  municipal 
authorities  than  it  does  in  England  or  America. 
Doctor  Georg  Kerschensteiner  admits  that  the  Ger- 
man system  makes  it  difficult  for  local  authori- 
ties to  try  experiments  and  that  where  too  great 
paternalism  prevails  old  methods  are  likely  to  be- 
come sanctified  by  tradition.1  Yet  Kerschensteiner 
and  his  wonderful  day  continuation  schools  of  Munich 
are  in  themselves  a  refutation  of  this  comment,  as 
are  the  achievements  of  such  cities  as  Frankfort, 
Cologne,  and  Dlisseldorf . 

Education  is  under  the  control  of  the  individual 
states,  as  it  is  in  the  United  States,  and  within  the 
state  the  system  is  much  more  uniform  than  it  is 
with  us.  At  the  head  of  it  all  is  a  state  department, 
usually  the  Department  of  Education.  Sometimes 
there  are  two  executive  heads,  one  for  general  and 
one  for  industrial  education.  The  universities  are 

1  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  Bulktin,  1913,  No.  24. 


ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION  225 

immediately  under  the  minister,  whose  jurisdiction 
over  the  schools  is  exercised  through  local  depart- 
ments, which  represent  the  government,  but  differ 
for  different  types  of  schools.  Below  the  minister 
and  the  state  department  are  district  inspectors, 
in  some  respects  like  our  own  superintendents,  but 
with  this  important  difference  that  they  are  officers 
of  the  state.  The  inspector's  authority  is  much  more 
than  supervisory,  for  he  has  wide  powers  over  the 
internal  management  of  the  schools.  He  controls 
teaching,  discipline,  and  other  matters.  Under  him 
are  inspectors  for  each  community,  who  serve  as 
chairmen  of  the  local  committees.  In  towns  this 
committee  represents  the  municipal  authority.  The 
cost  of  the  local  school  system  is  paid  chiefly  out  of 
local  taxes,  with  subsidies  from  the  state.1 

State  control  over  the  schools  is  also  maintained 
through  the  regulations  governing  the  training  and 
examination  of  teachers,  who  are  licensed  to  teach 
only  after  they  have  passed  a  state  examination. 
Then  they  become  part  of  the  state  civil  service. 
The  government  determines  the  courses  in  the  semi- 
naries for  the  training  of  teachers  and  the  amount 
and  quality  of  work  to  be  done  by  students  preparing 
to  teach  in  the  secondary  schools.  Thus  the  second- 
ary schools  are  sure  of  having  highly  trained  teachers, 
whether  it  be  in  the  largest  city  or  in  the  smallest 
village.  This  uniformity  of  standards,  while  it  de- 

1  Shadwell,  Industrial  Efficiency,  vol.  II,  p.  401. 


226  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

presses  individual  initiative  and  experiment,  has  the 
advantage  of  uniform  excellence  in  preparation. 

State  regulations  similar  to  the  above  exist  with 
regard  to  the  university  and  technical  schools,  in 
which  we  do  not  find  that  variation  in  standard 
which  prevails  in  this  country. 

In  addition  to  the  standardization  of  education 
within  the  state  there  is  substantial  uniformity  be- 
tween the  systems  of  the  several  states.  A  state  may 
excel  in  one  branch  of  education,  as  does  Bavaria  in 
vocational  education,  but  the  differences  are  not 
fundamental. 

The  teachers  are  highly  trained.  In  Prussia  there 
are  129  seminaries  for  teachers,  all  but  9  of  them 
for  men.  The  training  lasts  for  six  years,  although 
in  Prussia  only  three  are  spent  in  the  seminary  and 
three  in  special  institutions  preparatory  to  it,  main- 
tained by  the  state  or  the  municipality.  After  hav- 
ing been  admitted  to  the  service,  teachers  are  pro- 
moted by  competitive  examinations  or  by  reason  of 
their  recognized  achievements.  They  have  the 
privileges  of  civil  servants,  enjoy  partial  freedom 
from  military  service  and  exemption  from  municipal 
taxes,  are  paid  a  relatively  high  salary  and  have  the 
assurance  of  a  pension  on  retirement.  Thus  the 
position  of  the  teacher  is  assured  so  long  as  he  is 
guilty  of  no  infraction  of  the  laws.  As  a  result  of 
these  conditions  and  the  pressure  for  admission  to 
the  state  service  three-fourths  of  the  teachers  in 
Prussia  are  male.  The  majority  of  the  teachers  in 


ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION  227 

this  country  are  female,  the  distribution  in  1901 
being  306,063  female  and  123,941  male.  And  the 
preponderance  of  the  woman  teacher  is  increasing. 
One  of  the  consequences  of  this  is  a  great  wastage 
of  teachers.  Many  women  marry  and  drop  the  pro- 
fession, while  many  men  enter  it  as  a  stepping-stone 
to  something  else.  The  same  is  true  in  England. 
In  neither  country  is  teaching  a  standard  profession 
as  it  is  in  Germany,  while  in  neither  country  is  so 
much  attention  given  to  the  training  and  preparation 
of  the  teaching  staff. 

The  physical  health  and  well-being  of  school 
children  is  cared  for  with  the  same  thoroughness 
that  characterizes  education.  Medical  inspection 
is  general.  All  of  the  large  cities  and  most  of  the 
small  towns  have  school  physicians  who  examine  the 
child  on  entering  school,  who  call  in  the  parents  and 
advise  them  of  any  special  dietary  or  other  needs. 
Accurate  records  are  kept,  especially  those  of  back- 
ward children.  There  is  an  annual  congress  of  the 
Association  for  School  Hygiene  which  is  attended  by 
school  physicians  from  all  over  the  country  and  is 
designed  to  unify  the  system  of  medical  inspection. 

Strasburg  has  maintained  a  municipal  dental 
clinic  for  school  children  since  1902,  which  example 
has  since  been  followed  by  Darmstadt,  Essen,  and 
other  cities.  In  1906  Berlin  organized  a  Central 
Committee  for  the  Dental  Care  of  School  Children, 
which  was  liberally  subsidized  by  the  Prussian 
government. 


228  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

Some  cities  have  established  open-air  schools  in  the 
woods,  Waldschulen,  for  sickly  and  anaemic  children. 
To  these  schools  children  are  sent  if  they  cannot  be 
properly  cared  for  at  home  and  brought  up  to  nor- 
mal condition.  Instruction  in  these  woods  schools 
is  given  in  the  forenoon  and  each  period  of  recitation 
is  followed  by  a  period  of  active  exercise.  The  num- 
ber of  Waldschulen  is  increased  year  by  year,  as  are 
the  walderholungsstdtten,  or  recreation  resorts  in  the 
woods,  where  there  is  no  regular  instruction,  and  the 
aim  is  merely  improvement  in  the  health  of  the 
children.  Parents  who  are  able  to  pay  for  their 
children's  treatment  in  these  places  are  expected 
to  do  so. 

The  feeding  of  needy  school  children  has  also  made 
rapid  progress.  Experiments  were  made  along  this 
line  as  long  as  forty  years  ago.  By  1896  the  number 
of  cities  which  had  made  provision  for  feeding  school 
children  had  increased  to  79,  some  of  which  gave 
breakfast,  some  luncheon,  and  a  few  both.  In  1908 
the  number  had  risen  to  124  cities  of  over  20,000 
population  and  to  70  with  populations  of  from  10,- 
000  to  20,000. l 

Physical  culture  and  gymnastics  have  been  de- 
veloped with  great  thoroughness  during  the  last  two 
decades.  In  most  schools  three  hours  per  week  are 
devoted  to  physical  training,  while  in  Prussia  all 
schools  have  daily  calisthenics  which,  wherever  pos- 

1  Doctor  Hinze,  Soziale  Kultur  und  Volkswirtschaft,  p.  302. 


ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION  229 

sible,  are  provided  out-of-doors.  Gymnasium  courses 
for  boys  provide  drills  which  will  later  be  of  use  to 
them  when  they  serve  with  the  colors,  such  as  rapid 
falling  down,  rising,  etc.  The  regular  physical 
training  is  supplemented  by  long  walks  in  the  coun- 
try, with  practice  in  distant  vision,  in  calculating 
distances,  and  the  development  of  the  sense  of  direc- 
tion, etc.  During  the  spring  and  summer  frequent 
outings  are  taken  to  the  woods  and  places  of  his- 
toric interest.  One  sees  groups  of  school  children 
daily  walking  through  the  country,  at  the  zoological 
gardens,  in  the  parks,  art  galleries,  and  museums. 
Schulerwanderungen  is  another  form  of  recreation, 
in  which  groups  of  twenty  or  more  boys  or  girls  from 
the  upper  grades  spend  from  five  to  six  days  on  long 
walking  tours  with  a  sympathetic  teacher. 

The  government  has  done  much  to  encourage  lo- 
cal societies  for  physical  culture.  These  societies  ar- 
range for  trips  to  the  country,  which  are  encouraged 
by  cheap  railway  fares  and  arrangements  for  sleeping 
in  the  barracks  and  other  public  institutions.  Cities 
and  rural  communities  provide  exercise  halls  and 
funds  for  these  societies.  Prussia  appropriated  two 
and  one-half  million  marks  in  1913  to  assist  in 
the  development  of  the  recreative  activities  of  the 
schools.  Schools  are  also  generously  equipped  for 
physical  culture.  Many  of  them  contain  gymnasi- 
ums, while  72  cities  have  500  elementary  schools 
with  bathing  facilities. 


230  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

It  is  difficult  to  overstate  the  influence  of  education 
upon  the  life  of  Germany.  And  it  is  almost  wholly 
the  product  of  the  last  generation.  Education  is 
woven  into  the  fibre  of  the  empire.  It  is  not  a  de- 
tached thing,  separate  and  apart.  It  is  an  agency 
for  meeting  every  possible  want  and  anticipating 
every  need.  It  not  only  prepares  the  boy  and  girl 
to  live,  it  prepares  them  to  work,  and  to  work  in  the 
most  efficient  way  possible.  And  along  with  the  most 
minute  specialization  there  is  a  background  of  cul- 
ture and  familiarity  with  cultural  things  that  ena- 
bles even  the  poor  to  enjoy  literature,  art,  and  music 
as  well  as  the  beauties  of  nature.  The  deadening 
influence  of  modern  industry  with  its  automatic 
processes  has  the  counteracting  influence  of  general 
and  special  education,  so  that  the  variety  of  training 
which  modern  industry  has  destroyed  is  supplied 
through  the  school  and  the  opportunities  for  life 
which  the  school  opens  up.  Education  is  also  closely 
integrated  with  industry  through  the  college,  special 
schools,  and  vocational  training,  while  a  love  for  the 
Fatherland,  a  veneration  for  the  Hohenzollerns,  a  be- 
lief in  the  destiny  of  the  empire,  and  a  willingness 
to  sacrifice  everything  for  the  state  are  some  of  the 
by-products  of  an  educational  system  which,  if  not  a 
model  that  can  be  copied  by  other  countries,  is  at 
least  a  suggestion  of  the  commanding  position  which 
education  will  probably  enjoy  in  the  civilization  of 
the  future. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION— PREPARING  THE 
CHILD   FOR  LIFE 

COMPREHENSIVE  as  are  the  provisions  for  ele- 
mentary, secondary,  special,  technical,  and  university 
training,  they  by  no  means  complete  the  catalogue 
of  the  educational  agencies  of  Germany.  It  was  real- 
ized by  educators  that  elementary  education  did  not 
prepare  the  boy  and  the  girl  for  the  particular  work 
which  they  desired  to  follow;  it  provided  no  knowl- 
edge of  industry,  trade,  or  even  the  domestic  sciences. 
The  continuation  school  was  designed  to  meet  this 
need.  It  is  another  of  Germany's  contributions  to 
modern  education.  It  is  designed  for  those  whose 
education  stops  with  the  elementary  school  and  who 
are  beginning  to  earn  their  living,  and  is  based  upon 
the  fact  that  only  8  per  cent,  of  the  boys  continued 
their  education  beyond  the  lower  grades.  The  con- 
tinuation schools  are  designed  to  reach  the  other  92 
per  cent,  of  the  student  body. 

The  continuation  school  had  its  origin  in  a  small 
way  in  Rhineland  and  Westphalia.  Attendance  was 
at  first  voluntary.  But  the  schools  did  not  draw 
many  pupils  from  the  trades.  Employers  and  em- 

231 


232  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

ployees  considered  it  a  waste,  and  the  experiment 
seemed  destined  to  failure.  The  same  thing  was 
true  in  other  towns,  even  in  Munich,  where  the  con- 
tinuation school  had  reached  its  widest  and  best 
development.  Voluntary  continuation  schools  with 
Sunday  and  evening  classes  were  not  a  success  un- 
til Doctor  Kerschensteiner  converted  the  schools  of 
Munich  into  a  compulsory  system  obligatory  upon 
all  who  had  left  the  elementary  schools. 

The  Munich  idea  is  now  coming  to  prevail  all  over 
the  empire,  and  compulsory  continuation  education 
is  accepted  by  the  people  as  a  necessary  adjunct  to 
the  elementary  school.  As  long  ago  as  1891  an 
imperial  law  opened  the  way  for  its  extension.  This 
has  been  followed  by  subsequent  decrees,  by  which 
certain  local  authorities  were  empowered  to  estab- 
lish compulsory  schools.  Under  the  existing  regu- 
lations employers  are  required  to  give  their  em- 
ployees under  eighteen  years  of  age  leave  of  absence 
from  work  so  that  they  may  attend  these  schools 
during  the  hours  prescribed  by  the  authorities.  At 
the  present  time  all  of  the  large  towns  of  Prussia 
have  availed  themselves  of  these  powers  and  have 
inaugurated  continuation  schools.  Almost  all  the 
other  states  of  the  empire  have  followed  Prussia's 
example.  And  the  compulsory  feature  is  enforced. 
In  Hamburg,  for  instance,  employers  hiring  helpers 
of  from  fourteen  to  seventeen  years  of  age  must 
supply  the  authorities  with  their  names,  and  they 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  233 

as  well  as  the  parents  and  guardians  are  under 
obligation  to  see  that  the  young  people  attend  these 
schools. 

Thus  far  the  compulsory  principle  has  been  en- 
forced for  the  most  part  in  the  larger  cities.  Within 
the  last  few  years  legislation  has  been  enacted  ex- 
tending permissive  powers  to  smaller  towns  and 
country  districts.  Substantial  subsidies  are  granted 
by  the  state  for  the  building  of  these  schools.  Within 
a  few  years'  time  compulsory  continuation  educa- 
tion will  be  universal  throughout  the  empire. 

The  normal  length  of  attendance  required  in  these 
schools  is  six  to  eight  hours  per  week  for  three  years, 
the  school  year  being  forty  weeks  long.  In  Berlin 
and  in  many  other  cities  girls  must  now  attend  as 
well  as  boys.  Thirty  thousand  boys  attended  com- 
pulsory continuation  schools  in  Berlin  in  1912  in 
over  1,000  classes,  which  included  all  trades,  and 
149  classes  in  commercial  branches  with  4,416 
pupils.1 

The  system  has  grown  with  great  rapidity.  A 
report  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education 
states  that — 

"In  1910  Prussia  had  1,818  industrial  continua- 
tion schools  (gewerbliche  fortbildungsschuleri)  with 
321,226  students;  59  association  schools  with  5,831 
students;  and  285  guild  schools,  with  11,592  students. 
Of  the  industrial  continuation  schools  1,749  had 

1  Koeppel,  Elementary  School  Teacher,  February,  1913. 


234  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

compulsory  attendance  and  69  had  optional  at- 
tendance. In  former  years  there  were  many  more 
optional  schools,  as  compared  with  the  proportion 
to-day,  and  this  proportion  is  growing.  .  .  .  Pre- 
viously the  municipalities  received  no  support  from 
the  Prussian  state  for  these  continuation  schools. 
Now,  however,  the  state  is  subsidizing  them  and 
conditioning  this  help  upon  compulsory  attendance, 
and  most  of  the  communities  have  adopted  it.  ... 
Compulsory  attendance  stops  with  the  18th  year. 
.  .  .  Attendance  at  a  recognized  guild  school  re- 
lieves the  boy  from  attendance  at  the  public  indus- 
trial continuation  school."  1 

The  instruction  in  these  schools,  both  in  the  trade 
subjects  and  other  subjects,  is  made  to  fit  the  needs 
of  the  pupil  as  nearly  as  possible.  In  the  arithmetic 
course  checks,  drafts,  and  bills  of  exchange  are 
studied.  The  bookkeeping  instruction  is  adapted 
to  the  trade  in  which  it  will  be  used.  In  the  classes 
for  factory  workers  only  such  instruction  is  given 
as  is  considered  of  value  to  the  permanently  depen- 
dent worker.  There  is  instruction  in  industrial  regu- 
lations relating  to  apprentices  and  journeymen  (the 
apprentice  system  is  still  holding  its  own  in  Germany 
alongside  of  the  factory  system),  order  and  discipline 
in  industrial  operations,  the  hygienic  requirements 
of  the  workshop,  the  co-operation  and  division  of 
labor.  Then  there  is  the  training  for  good  citizen- 

1  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin,  1913,  No.  9.  See  also  J. 
Saxon  Mills,  in  Fortnightly  Review,  vol.  101,  January- June,  1914? 
and  Geo.  Koeppel,  in  Elementary  School  Teacher,  February,  1913. 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  235 

ship.  The  boy  is  shown  the  connection  of  the  indi- 
vidual calling  with  the  common  life  of  the  family,  the 
workshop,  community,  state,  and  empire;  and  he  is 
taught  the  genesis  and  system  of  important  public 
institutions,  reverence  for  the  laws,  loyalty  to  the 
home  and  Fatherland,  and  interest  in  the  affairs  of 
the  town  and  the  nation.  The  pupils  learn  about  the 
workings  of  the  local  municipality  and  its  depart- 
ments, public  hygiene  and  sanitation,  protection  and 
insurance  of  workers,  industrial  and  district  courts, 
etc.,  and  the  most  important  facts  about  the  con- 
stitution, administration  of  the  state,  army  and 
navy,  and  colonies.  In  the  field  of  physical  educa- 
tion there  is  compulsory  study  of  personal  hygiene 
and  elementary  physiology  and  optional  athletic 
training,  which  is  fostered  in  every  possible  way — 
by  contests,  walking  tours,  etc.  The  schools  also 
frequently  provide  for  optional  attendance  at  con- 
certs, lectures,  and  other  forms  of  educational 
activities.1 

The  needs  of  the  trade  and  the  wishes  of  employers 
are  considered  to  the  fullest  possible  extent.  If  an 
employer  has  several  apprentices  they  may  be  sent 
to  the  school  on  different  days  in  the  week,  so  that 
he  will  never  be  left  short-handed.  In  the  seasonal 
trades,  such  as  those  of  the  carpenters  and  painters, 
the  work  in  the  school  may  be  diminished  in  the  busy 
season  and  correspondingly  increased  in  the  off  sea- 

1  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin,  1913,  No.  9. 


236  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

son.  These  schools  can,  of  course,  carry  speciali- 
zation further  in  the  large  cities,  but  even  in  the 
smaller  towns  many  varieties  of  trades  are  provided 
for,  though  allied  trades  are  often  united.  Thus  all 
the  workers  in  the  metal  or  wood  working  trade  may 
be  united  in  one  class.  The  Munich  system,  which 
is  the  most  highly  developed  of  all,  provides  classes 
and  equipment  for  not  less  than  fifty-six  trades,  and 
the  system  is  still  growing.1 

The  United  States  consul  at  Magdeburg  says  of 
the  continuation  school : 

"One  of  the  aims  of  the  industrial  school  is  to  give 
the  youth  such  instruction  in  language,  government, 
civic  affairs,  industrial  laws,  business  customs,  trade 
practices,  hygiene,  sanitation,  etc.,  as  to  fit  him  to  be 
an  efficient  employer  or  self-dependent  workman, 
an  intelligent  citizen,  and  a  capable  member  of  soci- 
ety."2 

Moreover,  there  is  nowadays  a  growing  importance 
attached  to  journeymen's  and  masters'  certificates, 
and  the  continuation  school  is  doing  its  part  in  pre- 
paring its  pupils  in  these  lines. 

One  important  object  of  the  continuation  school 
is  to  counteract  the  tendency  of  modern  shops  to 
limit  the  work  of  the  boy  to  a  few  manipulations  in 
a  small  field  of  the  trade  in  which  he  is  working, 

1  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin,  1913,  No.  9. 

2  Ralph  C.  Benson,  U.  S.  consul  in  Magdeburg,  in  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Education  Bulletin,  1913,  No.  9. 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  237 

leaving  him  helpless  and  ignorant  in  regard  to  all 
the  rest.1 

Magdeburg,  with  a  population  of  287,000,  is  typi- 
cal of  the  more  progressive  of  the  German  cities  in 
the  matter  of  education  for  commercial  and  indus- 
trial pursuits.  After  completing  the  compulsory  eight 
years'  schooling,  the  boy  of  fourteen  who  is  not 
going  to  take  up  professional  studies  must  choose  a 
trade.  The  school  authorities  help  him  find  a  suit- 
able apprenticeship.  He  must  go  to  the  continua- 
tion school  a  certain  number  of  hours  a  week  during 
his  apprenticeship,  and  thus  the  authorities  keep 
control  over  his  education  till  the  seventeenth 
year. 

The  continuation  schools  are  divided  into  two 
groups — the  trade  and  the  commercial  schools,  the 
former  giving  instruction  adapted  to  the  particular 
trade  the  pupil  is  interested  in.  In  1913  there  were 
classes  for  bakers,  butchers,  barbers,  waiters,  paint- 
ers, decorators,  tailors,  blacksmiths,  cabinetmakers, 
and  various  other  trades.  Even  if  the  boy  does  not 
wish  to  become  a  skilled  workman  and  has  no  ambi- 
tion beyond  being  a  messenger,  street-cleaner,  or 
house  servant,  the  city  insists  that  he  shall  spend 
three  years  at  the  continuation  school.  The  same 
regulations  hold  in  Erfurt. 

For  boys  who  have  been  placed  in  the  commercial 
establishments  of  Magdeburg  there  is  a  requirement 

1  Geo.  Koeppel,  in  Elementary  School  Teacher,  March,  1913. 


238  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

that  they  shall  spend  six  hours  a  week  for  three  years 
in  the  continuation  schools,  where  their  practical 
education  is  supplemented  by  theoretical  training. 
The  subjects  taught  are  accounting  and  bookkeep- 
ing, business  correspondence,  commerical  geography, 
business  law,  and  civil  government.  Should  the 
boy  wish  to  study  still  further,  he  may  enter  a 
Handels-hochschule  for  higher  education  in  commer- 
cial subjects. 

The  main  continuation  school  in  Barmen,  with  an 
attendance  of  3,751  pupils  in  1913,  had  131  classes, 
divided  up  as  follows: 

34  classes  for  textile  trades. 
5  classes  for  lace-making  trades. 

16  classes  for  machine-tool  making. 
3  classes  for  art  forging. 

3  classes  for  plumbing,  electric  installation,  etc. 

4  classes  for  furniture  and  weaving-loom  mak- 

ing. 

2  classes  for  house  carpentry. 

3  classes  for  house  painting  and  decorating. 

2  classes  for  shoemaking,    saddlery,    upholstery, 
tailoring. 

1  class  for  gardening. 

2  classes  for  typesetting  and  book  printing. 

3  classes  for  bookbinding  and  box  making. 
2  classes  for  lithography  and  engraving. 

4  classes  for  baking  and  candy  making. 
1  class  for  butchers. 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  239 

1  class  for  barbers  and  wigmakers. 
39  classes  for  messengers  and  helpers. 

2  primary  classes. 

4  classes  for  weak-minded.1 

The  teachers  have  been  specially  prepared  for 
teaching  their  particular  branches,  and  in  addition 
to  their  daily  instruction  they  give  occasional  lec- 
tures on  different  subjects.  No  classes  are  held 
after  8  P.  M.  or  on  Sundays.  All  pupils  receive  four 
hours  instruction  each  week  in  trade  and  civic  rela- 
tions, composition,  arithmetic,  and  bookkeeping. 
Besides  these,  pupils  in  various  trades  requiring  skill 
in  drawing  receive  additional  hours  of  instruction 
in  this  subject.  Carpenters,  engravers,  gardeners, 
and  other  trades  receive  two  hours  of  practical 
drafting;  electricians  and  machinists,  two  hours  of 
drafting  and  one  of  physics;  builders,  lithographers, 
engravers  on  wood,  metal,  and  stone,  four  hours  of 
practical  drawing;  tailors,  four  hours  of  drawing, 
with  practical  cutting  and  fitting.  For  the  prac- 
tical work  in  the  various  trades  each  teacher,  who 
is  himself  a  master,  has  a  complete  collection  of  the 
materials  used,  the  necessary  tools  and  machines 
and  models  of  work  in  his  trade. 

The  cost  of  tuition  is  ten  marks  per  year,  to  be 
paid  by  the  pupil's  employer,  and  he  must  also  allow 

1  "Reports  on  Continuation  Schools  in  Prussia,"  U.  S.  Bureau  of 
Education  Bulletin,  1913,  No.  9. 


240  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

the  apprentice  to  attend  the  school  at  the  proper 
time. 

The  American  consul  at  Barmen  reports: 

"The  results  are  excellent,  it  is  said,  and  the  manu- 
facturers and  masters  have  learned  that  the  instruc- 
tion well  repays  the  small  sacrifice  of  time  and 
money. "  1 

Frankfort-on-the-Main  is  divided  into  three  dis- 
tricts for  purposes  of  continuation  education,  and 
each  district  has  provision  for  both  commercial  and 
industrial  education.  Courses  are  free  and  com- 
pulsory for  all  boys  and  girls  between  the  ages  of 
fourteen  and  seventeen  who  have  left  school  to  earn 
their  own  living. 

The  commercial  course  covers  general  commercial 
knowledge  (handelskunde) ,  commerical  arithmetic, 
bookkeeping,  economic  geography,  citizenship  (bur- 
gerkunde),  commercial  correspondence  and  hand- 
writing for  all  who  show  need  of  such  training.  Two 
hundred  and  forty  hours  of  instruction  per  year  are 
required. 

The  industrial  division  provides  technical  and 
economic  instruction  of  a  practical  but  not  experi- 
mental character  in  every  conceivable  handicraft. 
Classes  are  conducted  by  practical  experts.  Be- 
sides the  regular  trades,  such  as  baking,  tailoring, 

1  George  Eager,  U.  S.  consul  at  Barmen,  in  "Reports  on  Continu- 
ation Schools  in  Prussia,"  in  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin, 
1913,  No.  9. 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  241 

etc.,  there  is  instruction  for  day-laborers  and  even 
for  deaf-and-dumb  scholars. 

An  English  observer  commenting  on  the  continu- 
ation school  says: 

"The  classes  unquestionably  fulfil  the  magnani- 
mous purpose  expressed  in  the  opening  sentence  of 
the  annual  report — 'The  object  of  the  compulsory 
continuation  schools  is  to  develop  and  perfect  the 
vocational  equipment  of  the  scholars  and  to  help 
to  build  them  up  into  valiant  men  and  citizens. ' " l 

Many  students  of  the  obligatory  age  do  not  attend 
these  schools  but  go  to  schools  like  the  splendid 
Industrial  Art  School  (Gewerbeschule) ,  where  a  small 
fee  is  charged  and  the  curriculum  is  more  extended. 
In  the  Frankfort  obligatory  schools  alone  in  1913 
there  were  6,901  pupils  and  250  classes. 

In  Munich  the  continuation-school  system  reached 
its  earliest  and  one  of  its  best  developments.  In  that 
city  every  boy  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and 
eighteen  (or  seventeen,  if  his  apprenticeship  is  only 
for  three  years)  must  attend  in  the  daytime  some 
school  belonging  to  the  continuation-school  system. 
There  are  seven  of  these  schools  distributed  about 
the  city,  each  housed  in  a  large,  well-equipped 
building.  Each  has  a  higher  division  for  journey- 
men, foremen,  and  master  workmen.  Three  more 
such  buildings  are  in  course  of  construction  (1914), 
at  a  cost  of  $500,000.  Fifty-six  trades  have  classes 

1  Saxon  Mills,  in  Fortnightly  Review,  January- June,  1914. 


242 


SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


in  these  schools.    The  following  course  for  brass 
workers  is  typical  of  the  Munich  schools : 1 


B 

LOURS    PJ 

SB  WEE 

t 

Age 

14-15 

15-16 

16-17 

17-18 

Trade  arithmetic,  bookkeeping  

1 

1 

1 

1 

Business  composition,  essays,   and 

reading  

1 

1 

1 

Citizenship,    sensible     living,    and 

hygiene 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Information    about    trades,    goods, 

and  tools 

1 

1 

Drawing  

3 

3 

2 

3 

Practical  work  

2 

3 

7 

7 

7 

8 

The  first  three  subjects  are  invariably  taught  in 
all  trades,  though  the  actual  treatment  is  adapted 
to  each  particular  trade.  The  practical  work  of  the 
last  two  years  for  the  brass  workers  is  of  a  higher 
grade  than  the  boys  are  likely  to  get  at  their  occu- 
pation. One  must  actually  see  the  photographs  of 
the  school  workshops — even  for  the  chimney-sweeps 
— to  realize  how  seriously  the  training  is  carried  out. 

The  upper  division  of  the  Munich  industrial  con- 
tinuation schools,  which  is  only  obligatory  on  jour- 
neymen and  masters,  has  the  following  subjects  in- 
cluded in  its  course  of  study : 

Technical  Part. — Free-hand  and  mechanical  draw- 


1 R.  H.  Best,  The  Problem  of  the  Continuation  School  and  Its  Suc- 
cessful Solution  in  Germany. 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  243 

ing,  trade  drawing,  chemistry,  physics,  geometry, 
workshop  and  laboratory  practice,  knowledge  of 
goods. 

Commercial  Economic  Courses. — Arithmetic  in 
general,  bookkeeping,  exchange  and  commercial 
law,  computation,  and  business  organization. 

General  Courses. — History  of  the  trade,  commercial 
geography,  hygiene,  lectures  on  industry  in  general, 
insurance  laws,  etc. 

The  most  serious  complaint  heard  against  the 
schools  is  that  they  tend  to  make  the  pupil  dis- 
satisfied with  the  conditions  which  he  finds  in  the 
shop  in  regard  to  sanitation,  etc.  Sometimes,  too, 
the  school  has  equipment  which  the  employer  lacks.1 

Special  advanced  divisions  of  the  trade-schools 
have  been  developed  in  many  cities.  They  are 
either  in  the  same  building  as  the  continuation 
school  or  are  carried  on  as  special  schools.  They  are 
well  equipped  with  workshops  and  lecture-rooms, 
and  the  classes  are  taught  by  teachers  who  are  ex- 
perts in  their  trades.  Such  schools  are  to  be  found 
in  Frankfort,  Dresden,  Leipsic,  and  many  other 
cities,  but  it  is  in  Munich  that  they  are  most  highly 
developed.  The  teachers  are  required  by  the  munic- 
ipalities to  keep  up  with  the  latest  developments 
in  their  occupations,  exhibitions,  etc.,  and  must 
know  thoroughly  the  commercial  requirements  of 

1  Bruno  Rauecker,  in  Muenchener  Volkswirtschaftliche  Studien, 
1911,  p.  119. 


244  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

the  trade,  so  that  they  can  teach  their  subject  in  a 
"commercial"  way,  as  opposed  to  the  "school- 
master" fashion.  A  fee  is  required  of  the  students, 
which  in  Munich  is  about  $5  a  year. l 

Till  recently  girls  were  required  to  attend  only 
three  hours  a  week  in  the  continuation  schools  in 
Munich.  Domestic  science  was  the  chief  subject 
taught,  although  the  girls  were  permitted  to  attend 
the  boys'  trade  classes,  which  few  of  them  did.  In 
the  fall  of  1914,  however,  continuation  schooling 
became  compulsory  for  girls  for  the  same  length  of 
tune  as  for  boys.  Their  schools  are  divided  into 
three  parts:  (a)  domestic  economy;  (6)  commercial 
section;  (c)  technical  section.  The  domestic-econ- 
omy instruction  has  just  been  made  compulsory  for 
all  servant-girls  and  untrained  workers  in  facto- 
ries and  girls  who  stay  at  home  to  help  in  the  house- 
hold after  their  elementary  schooling.  Commercial 
courses  are  obligatory  for  all  girls  in  business  or 
shops,  and  technical  courses  for  those  in  industries 
and  trades,  so  far  as  they  are  trained  workers.  The 
table  on  page  245  shows  the  course  laid  out  for  the 
domestic-economy  section  in  the  Munich  schools.2 

Needlework  is  optional  because  the  girls  have 
learned  all  there  is  to  know  about  plain  sewing  in  the 
elementary  schools  and  the  course  in  needlework  in 
the  continuation  schools  is  of  a  more  advanced  kind. 

in.  H.  Best,  The  Problem  of  the  Continuation  School  and  Its 
Successful  Solution  in  Germany,  p.  40. 

2  Kerschensteiner,  The  Schools  and  the  Nation. 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 


245 


HOUBS  PEB  WEEK 

Class  1 

Class  2 

Class  3 

Compulsory  subjects: 
Religion  

1 
2 
2 

1 

1 
2 
2 

1 

1 
2 
2 

1 
1 

Housekeeping  and  hygiene 

German   

Accounts  and  domestic  (later  busi- 
ness) bookkeeping  

The  training  of  children  

Voluntary  subjects: 
Needlework  .  .       

6 

2 
3 
3 
6 

6 

3 
2 
2 
6 

7 

4 
2 

2 
6 

French  

English 

Technical  drawing  

14 

13 

14 

Educational  experts  are  a  unit  in  their  approval 
of  these  schools  as  a  preparation  for  trade  and  in- 
dustry. A  report  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Labor  says: 

"To  sum  up:  'The  German  industrial  schools  are 
achieving  in  large  measure  the  purpose  for  which 
they  were  established — industrial  efficiency.  They 
are  not  yet  fully  developed,  nor  are  their  types  finally 
fixed.  They  constitute  a  living,  growing  movement, 
which  gives  every  promise  of  increasingly  fruitful 
results  on  industry  and  on  the  comfort  and  culture 
of  the  German  people.' "  * 

As  to  the  influence  of  the  German  educational 


1  Holmes  Beckwith,  "German  Industrial  Education  and  its  Lessons 
for  the  United  States, "  in  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin,  1913, 
No.  19. 


246  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

system  on  industry  the  British  consul-general  for 
the  district  of  Diisseldorf  says : 

"German  success  in  commerce  and  industries  is 
generally  admitted  to  be  due  to  the  German  govern- 
ment's exemplary  and  exceptionally  excellent  educa- 
tional system.  For  the  last  thirty  years  the  schools 
and  colleges  have  been  turning  out  young  men  pro- 
vided with  a  better  education  than  can  be  obtained 
in  the  majority  of  other  European  countries.  Of  late 
years  in  particular,  continuation  schools  have  proved 
a  most  valuable  asset  of  the  nation.  ...  It  stands 
to  reason  that  a  nation's  population  which  has  had 
the  benefit  of  five  years'  extra  schooling  over  its 
neighbor  is  bound  in  the  long  run  to  forge  its  way 
ahead  of  its  neighbor,  even  if  originally  both  nations 
were  on  an  equality,  mentally  and  physically.  (This 
writer  includes  in  the  five  years'  schooling  the  two 
years  spent  in  the  army — 'that  true  university  of 
manners  and  manhood. ')  The  continuation  schools 
have  proved  the  value  of  the  knowledge  they  impart 
to  their  boys  and  girls,  making  them  fitter  and  more 
able  to  succeed  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  ...  It 
is  not  a  question  of  attending  a  few  evening  classes, 
when  the  boys  are  tired  out  by  their  hard  day's 
work;  by  law  the  employer  is  forced  to  give  every 
boy  and  girl  enough  free  time  during  the  day  to 
attend  eight  and  sometimes  ten  hours  a  week  at  the 
school  during  the  working  hours.  .  .  .  Going  as  they 
do  from  the  elementary  schools  to  the  continuation 
schools,  and  from  these  into  the  army,  the  boys  are 
continuously  under  some  supervision  and  training, 
which  is  so  necessary  at  that  age.  They  are  taught, 
besides  their  trade,  cleanliness,  self-respect,  disci- 
pline, the  art  of  taking  care  of  their  health — all  of 


VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  247 

which  is  of  the  utmost  value  during  the  whole  of  their 
life." l 

Continuing,  the  writer  says: 

"  It  may  in  the  long  run  not  avail  us  to  maintain  a 
two-ship  power  against  Germany  if  we  allow  Ger- 
many to  maintain  a  two-school  power  against  us. 
The  more  perfect  social  organization  of  the  German 
people,  their  stronger  national  consciousness,  and, 
above  all,  their  fuller  equipment  in  school  and  col- 
lege for  the  practical  duties  of  life  and  citizenship — 
these  are  more  formidable  advantages  in  the  secular 
struggle  for  survival  and  supremacy  than  the  mere 
piling  up  of  mechanical  armaments. "  2 

1  British  Diplomatic  and  Consular  Reports,  1913.     Cd.  7048,  pp. 
72-73,  quoted  by  A.  Saxon  Mills  in  Fortnightly  Review,  January- 
June,  1914. 

2  A.  Saxon  Mills  in  Fortnightly  Review,  January- June,  1914.     The 
author  had  been  describing  the  chaotic  condition  of  continuation 
education  in  England,  where  not  more  than  13  per  cent,  of  the 
children  who  left  school  at  the  minimum  age  continued  their  edu- 
cation in  night  school,  and  of  this  13  per  cent,  only  a  small  fraction 
attended  any  length  of  time.     It  was  a  case  of  tired  teachers  trying 
to  teach  tired  pupils. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
SANITATION    AND    HEALTH 

IN  another  chapter  we  have  seen  that  Germany 
has  a  high  birth-rate  and  a  higher  percentage  of 
births  over  deaths  than  any  other  country  except 
Russia.  Reference  has  also  been  made  to  the  elab- 
orate provisions  for  the  health  of  children,  for  their 
inspection  by  school  physicians,  for  out-of-door 
schools  and  recreation,  for  the  supervision  of  fac- 
tories and  the  introduction  of  sanitary  and  hygienic 
appliances.  Public  hygiene  is  a  highly  perfected 
profession  in  Germany.  Each  city  has  experts  on 
the  subject  who  enforce  stringent  sanitary  rules, 
while  frequent  conferences  are  held,  attended  by 
state  and  municipal  officials.  Like  education,  health 
is  the  subject  of  the  most  serious  official  concern. 
The  object  aimed  at  is  not  only  the  prevention  of 
disease  but  the  maintenance  of  the  highest  possible 
working  efficiency  of  the  individual.  Sanitation  and 
preventive  medicine  in  all  its  branches  is  another 
form  of  the  German  war  on  human  waste. 

A  great  stimulus  was  given  to  the  whole  subject 
of  public  health  by  the  social  insurance  laws  for 
protection  against  accident,  sickness,  invalidity,  and 
old  age.  If  the  worker  could  be  kept  in  health  the 

248 


SANITATION  AND  HEALTH  249 

demands  on  the  funds  would  be  reduced  to  that 
extent.  Added  to  the  solicitude  for  the  soldier  and 
the  worker  was  the  economic  concern  of  the  state 
and  of  industry  to  keep  mortality  and  invalidity  as 
low  as  possible.  And  the  immense  insurance  funds 
accumulated  in  the  hands  of  the  state  provided  a 
reservoir  for  elaborate  expenditures  for  better  houses, 
for  the  building  of  sanitariums,  hospitals,  convales- 
cent homes,  tuberculosis  farms  for  the  care  and  recu- 
peration of  those  weakened  by  disease.  Just  as  the 
municipal  savings-banks  offered  resources  at  a  low 
rate  of  interest,  for  the  building  or  purchase  of  pub- 
lic-service activities,  so  the  moneys  gathered  to- 
gether from  all  over  the  empire  in  small  contributions 
from  millions  of  workers  made  it  possible  to  carry 
forward  an  elaborate  programme  of  preventive 
medicine. 

While  public  health  in  America  is  regulated  almost 
exclusively  by  the  local  authorities,  which  make  such 
regulations  as  they  choose,  in  Germany  the  empire, 
the  states,  and  the  municipalities  all  exercise  wide 
supervision  of  the  subject.  In  addition  to  the  vari- 
ous authorities  charged  with  administrative  respon- 
sibility an  Imperial  Board  of  Health,  formed  in  1876, 
serves  as  a  bureau  of  research  and  advice  for  the 
empire  as  a  whole.  The  board  carries  on  investi- 
gations and  places  its  researches  at  the  disposal  of 
state  and  local  authorities.  Such  problems  as  water- 
supply,  disinfection,  and  the  disposal  of  sewage  are 


250  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

the  kind  of  subjects  with  which  it  is  primarily  con- 
cerned. 

Health  administration,  like  education,  is  a  matter 
of  state  rather  than  local  concern.  It  falls  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Interior  Department  as  in 
Prussia,  or  the  kulturministerium.  In  this  field 
the  state  authorities  have  large  powers  which  they 
exercise  in  co-operation  with  the  local  authorities. 

In  Prussia,  for  instance,  the  state  health  depart- 
ment has  charge  of  all  measures  for  the  fighting  of 
infectious  and  certain  other  diseases.  It  examines 
plans  for  water-supply  and  sewerage,  supervises 
hospitals  of  all  kinds,  and,  in  general,  advises  local 
authorities  in  matters  of  sanitation  and  public 
health.  It  also  exercises  further  control  over  local 
authorities  through  the  district  medical  officers,  who 
may  vote  on  local  health  committees,  and  even 
convene  them.  In  Baden,  the  state  authority  is 
responsible  for  the  execution  of  the  sanitary  laws, 
as  a  police  authority.  It  "administers  the  state 
laws  and  local  by-laws  and  regulations  relating  to 
the  sale  of  milk,  the  inspection  and  sale  of  meat,  the 
trade  in  poisons,  the  manufacture  of  mineral  waters, 
the  use  of  beer  stills,  the  businesses  of  barbers, 
masseurs,  quack  doctors,  and  uncertificated  den- 
tists.1 This  wide  extension  of  the  police  functions 
in  the  domain  of  health  administration  is  typical 
of  other  states  as  well. 

lDawson,  Municipal  Life  and  Government  in  Germany,  p.  193. 


SANITATION  AND  HEALTH  251 

The  local  health  administration  is  organized  as 
follows : 

In  the  larger  states  municipal  authorities  are  re- 
quired by  law  to  form  local  committees  to  co-operate 
with  the  state  in  the  administration  of  the  laws.  In 
Prussia  such  committees  must  be  formed  in  all 
communes  with  more  than  5,000  population  and 
may  be  formed  in  smaller  places.  The  town  council 
determines  the  size  of  the  committee.  A  medical 
practitioner  and  building  expert  are  usually  among 
the  members.  Membership  on  these  committees 
is  honorary  and  may  not  ordinarily  be  declined. 
The  term  of  office  is  at  least  six  years.  In  large 
towns  subcommittees  are  often  formed.  The  local 
health  committees  are  required  to  familiarize  them- 
selves with  the  general  sanitary  conditions  in  their 
districts,  particularly  in  such  matters  as  housing 
conditions,  cleanliness  of  streets,  water-supply, 
public  abattoirs,  trade  in  foodstuffs,  conditions  of 
schools,  effect  of  industries  of  the  neighborhood  on 
public  health,  the  condition  of  the  poor  and  sick 
and  institutions  for  their  care,  public  baths,  ceme- 
teries, etc.  It  is  their  duty  to  support  all  sanitary 
measures  taken  by  the  police  authority,  acting  in 
accord  with  the  "  circle  "  medical  officer.  They  must 
instruct  the  people  upon  questions  of  public  health, 
investigate  evils  that  may  cause  the  spread  of  disease, 
and  initiate  proposals  for  the  improvement  of  sani- 
tary conditions.  Committees  are  expected  to  meet 


252  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

at  least  four  times  a  year  and  to  make  periodic 
visits  of  inspection  and  special  visits  at  times  of 
floods,  epidemics,  etc.  Each  city  has  also  its  own 
municipal  medical  officers.  Sometimes  the  chief 
of  these  officers  is  given  a  place  in  the  executive,  as 
is  the  case  in  Berlin  and  Charlottenburg.  Some- 
times his  rank  is  simply  that  of  head  of  a  depart- 
ment dependent  upon  that  body.1 

In  the  matter  of  hospitals,  cities  are  required  by 
law  to  provide  only  for  the  care  of  infectious  diseases, 
and  indirectly  for  the  care  of  the  sick  poor.  Up  to 
twenty-five  years  ago  the  hospitals  were  used  only 
by  the  indigent  sick.  Since  the  passing  of  the  social 
insurance  laws,  a  great  extension  of  hospital  service 
has  taken  place.  All  the  larger  towns,  indeed,  go  far 
beyond  the  legal  requirements  in  the  extent  and 
quality  of  their  hospital  service.  The  total  number 
of  public  hospitals  in  Germany  in  1885  was  1,706; 
in  1907  it  was  2,222,  an  increase  of  30  per  cent. 
Still  more  significant  is  the  increase  in  the  number 
of  beds,  which  rose  from  75,000  to  138,000  within 
that  period,  an  increase  of  83  per  cent.,  compared 
with  a  rise  of  42  per  cent,  in  the  population.  Most 
of  the  money  paid  by  the  sickness-insurance  societies 
for  the  treatment  of  insured  persons  ($15,000,000  in 
1911)  is  paid  to  the  public  hospitals,  which  charge 
the  societies  less  than  cost,  or  a  sum  varying  from  50 
cents  to  80  cents  a  day.  Wonderful  hospitals  have 

1  Dawson,  supra,  p.  192. 


SANITATION  AND  HEALTH  253 

been  erected  in  recent  years.  They  are  equipped 
with  all  scientific  requirements.  The  Virchow  hos- 
pital in  Berlin  cost  $3,125  per  bed  for  erection 
and  equipment,  but  most  of  the  others  cost  con- 
siderably less  than  that.  Infectious  diseases  are 
usually  treated  in  connection  with  the  general  hos- 
pitals, but  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  epidemics  most 
of  the  larger  towns  have  buildings  in  reserve  which 
can  easily  be  turned  into  isolation  hospitals. 

Cemeteries  in  the  big  cities  are  laid  out  like  parks 
and  gardens.  They  are  as  free  as  possible  of  de- 
pressing influences.  Charges  for  grave  sites  and 
other  services  are  regulated  by  law.  In  Prussia 
they  are  limited  to  actual  cost.  Many  towns,  in- 
cluding Diisseldorf,  Stuttgart,  Frankfort-on-the- 
Main,  and  Mannheim,  carry  on  the  business  of 
undertaking,  and  here,  too,  the  charges  are  low. 

The  cremation  movement  is  making  rapid  prog- 
ress, although  it  has  hitherto  met  much  ecclesiasti- 
cal opposition.  There  are  (1913)  29  crematories  in 
operation  in  Prussia  and  11  in  the  other  states, 
nearly  all  owned  by  the  communes. 

Stringent  measures  for  the  inspection  of  food  and 
drink  have  been  adopted  by  all  the  states,  and  in- 
spection is  becoming  increasingly  thorough.  The 
laws  are  enforced  by  the  sanitary  police,  with  the 
co-operation  of  the  local  authorities.  The  govern- 
ment of  Wiirtemberg  is  making  special  efforts  to  in- 
sure the  purity  of  the  milk-supply,  and  has  placed 


254  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

direct  responsibility  on  the  communes  supplying 
the  milk.  The  city  of  Munich  has  four  groups  of 
food  inspectors:  (1)  market  inspectors  for  all  food 
which  comes  into  the  municipal  markets;  (2)  inspec- 
tors for  all  the  milk  entering  the  city;  (3)  21  district 
inspectors  and  assistants  for  the  inspection  of  the 
city's  food-supply  in  general,  and  (4)  inspectors  for 
all  meat  coming  from  outside  the  town,  who  examine 
at  the  railway  station. 

Analytical  laboratories  for  the  examination  of 
food  have  been  established  in  many  cities.  Berlin 
has  a  particularly  well-equipped  one,  which  serves 
for  the  analysis  of  industrial  material  as  well  as  the 
food-supply,  and  for  chemical  and  bacteriological 
investigations  in  general. 

Berlin  is  also  in  possession  of  a  splendid  system 
of  treating  sewage.  The  city  has  an  irrigation  farm 
of  44,000  acres,  planned  by  the  late  Rudolf  Virchow. 
About  400,000  cubic  yards  of  sewage  from  the  city 
and  environs  is  treated  daily.  Nearly  one-half  the 
total  area  of  the  sewage  farms  is  devoted  to  irriga- 
tion purposes  and  11,600  acres  of  the  remainder 
consists  of  corn  land,  small  holdings,  and  laborers' 
gardens,  dykes,  railways,  etc.  Breslau,  Magdeburg, 
and  other  cities  have  similar  farms,  but  of  smaller 
extent.  The  marked  decrease  in  the  mortality  from 
typhoid  is  largely  due  to  the  connection  of  houses 
with  the  sewage  system.  In  1870  when  there  were 
15,000  properties  unconnected  with  the  system  in 


SANITATION  AND  HEALTH  255 

Berlin,  the  death-rate  from  typhoid  was  7.7  per 
10,000  of  the  population.  By  1900,  when  all  prop- 
erties in  the  city  were  connected  with  the  system, 
the  rate  had  fallen  to  1  in  25,000  and  is  now  even 
lower.1 

Charges  for  street  scavenging  and  the  removal  of 
house  refuse  are  usually  assessed  against  owners  of 
property  and  are  only  rarely  met  from  general 
revenue.  In  some  towns  the  local  authority  provides 
the  necessary  vessels  and  supplies  empty,  disinfected 
receptacles  for  those  removed. 

Public  baths  are  an  institution  in  nearly  all  the 
larger  towns,  especially  those  towns  situated  on 
rivers  like  the  Rhine  and  Elbe.  "  In  1910  there  were 
335  separate  bathing  establishments  in  public  hands 
in  51  towns  with  a  population  exceeding  50,000," 
beside  the  still  greater  number  of  privately  owned 
establishments.  Nearly  all  these  towns  owned 
several  swimming-baths.  In  1913,  72  towns  had 
among  them  equipped  500  school  buildings  with 
baths.  The  municipal  bathing  establishments  of 
Munich  are  among  the  finest  in  the  empire,  although 
many  other  cities  have  establishments  on  almost 
as  magnificent  a  scale.  The  charge  at  the  largest 
and  most  sumptuous  of  the  baths  in  Munich,  which 
was  a  gift  to  the  city,  and  is  managed  by  the  munic- 
ipality, is  from  3  to  6  cents  for  the  working  classes, 
yet  in  spite  of  this  low  charge  it  pays  its  way.  Over 

1  Dawson,  supra,  p.  199. 


256  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

600,000  persons  a  year  use  the  various  baths  in 
Munich.  In  addition  to  the  ordinary  baths  some 
towns  have  medicinal  baths  for  the  benefit  of  in- 
sured persons.  On  the  whole  the  public  baths  are  a 
source  of  loss  to  the  towns,  but  this  fact  is  not  con- 
sidered by  the  local  authorities  because  of  the  more 
important  demands  of  public  health. 

Practically  all  German  cities  are  well  provided 
with  parks  and  open  spaces  within  their  adminis- 
trative area.  Barmen,  with  12.5  per  cent,  of  its  to- 
tal area  in  green  open  spaces,  has  20  square  yards 
of  green  for  each  inhabitant;  Duisburg  has  22  square 
yards  and  Diisseldorf  24.  These  are  all  factory 
towns.  In  planning  new  areas  the  rule  is  to  reserve 
a  certain  proportion  of  the  land  for  recreative  pur- 
poses. Besides,  there  is  the  forest  and  woodland  be- 
longing to  the  cities,  which  is  often  converted  into 
natural  parks. 

Up  to  quite  recently,  German  cities  paid  little 
attention  to  provisions  for  playgrounds.  The  am- 
ple park  space  was  beautifully  kept  and  carefully 
guarded  from  the  inroads  of  youngsters,  and  this  is 
still  the  rule  in  most  parks.  In  recent  years,  how- 
ever, parks  of  a  new  and  more  truly  recreative  type 
have  been  provided  by  many  of  the  larger  cities. 
The  Treptow  Park  in  Berlin  is  an  example  of  this 
kind.  Here  adults  as  well  as  children  may  indulge 
in  all  sorts  of  exercise,  even  bathing  and  swimming. 
Gravelled  play  spaces  have  been  laid  out  in  some 


SANITATION  AND  HEALTH  257 

of  the  older  parks  and  in  most  of  the  small  neighbor- 
hood parks.  Cities,  once  convinced  of  the  necessity 
for  play  spaces,  have  energetically  provided  them. 
Recent  statistics  show  that  Breslau  has  84  public 
playgrounds  for  children;  Cologne  54;  Hamburg  46; 
Erfurt  39.  Berlin  has  310  acres  of  playground 
space,  some  of  it  being  levelled  ground,  some  of  it 
grass,  besides  a  number  of  large  playgrounds  in  the 
outlying  districts  to  which  children  are  taken  on 
holidays.  These  resorts  were  used  by  over  a  quarter 
of  a  million  children  in  the  summer  holidays  of  1913, 
nearly  half  of  the  children  being  transported  there 
free.  Philanthropic  organizations  co-operate  with 
the  school  authorities  in  equipping  these  playgrounds 
with  apparatus  and  with  tents  for  rainy  weather  and 
in  organizing  games. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
THE  WAR  UPON  DISEASE 

THE  most  important  advances  in  health  protection 
have  followed  the  social  insurance  laws.  Statistics 
showed  that  15  per  cent,  of  the  claims  for  disability 
pensions  of  males  are  due  to  tuberculosis  and  9.5 
per  cent,  of  those  of  females.  This  fact  and  the 
powers  granted  the  invalidity-insurance  institutions 
to  place  invalided  workers  in  a  hospital  led  these 
institutions  to  undertake  a  wide-spread  campaign 
against  disease,  through  the  erection  and  operation 
of  sanatoria,  the  promotion  of  better  housing  proj- 
ects, and  financial  assistance  to  the  anti-tuberculosis 
movement  in  general.  Imperial,  state,  and  munic- 
ipal authorities  co-operated  in  this  campaign. 

The  most  wonderful  series  of  tuberculosis  sana- 
toria have  been  erected  by  the  insurance  institutions, 
beginning  with  1  in  1896,  and  increasing  to  37  in 
1909,  which  provided  treatment  for  22,734  patients, 
male  and  female,  during  the  latter  year.  A  number 
of  other  sanatoria  have  been  erected  by  communal 
and  provincial  authorities,  largely  with  funds  loaned 
at  low  rates  of  interest  by  the  insurance  institutions. 
The  aggregate  amount  loaned  for  this  purpose  up  to 
December,  1909,  was  13,062,625  marks,  of  which 

258 


THE  WAR  UPON  DISEASE  259 

1,252,607  had  been  repaid.  By  1911  there  were  99 
public  tuberculosis  sanatoria  of  both  kinds,  besides 
a  large  number  of  private  sanatoria,  some  of  which 
provided  for  wage-earners  at  reduced  rates. 

The  economic  results  of  institutional  treatment 
in  the  tuberculosis  sanatoria,  which  averages  about 
75  days  in  length,  are  carefully  checked  up  for  a 
period  of  five  years  in  the  case  of  each  patient  dis- 
charged with  special  reference  to  "restored  earning 
capacity, "  which  in  the  sense  of  the  invalidity-in- 
surance institutions  means  that  the  discharged  per- 
son is  able  to  earn  at  least  one-third  of  his  wage- 
earning  capacity  previous  to  the  disease.  In  the 
case  of  patients  discharged  in  1905  with  their  earning 
capacity  restored  within  the  meaning  of  the  insurance 
laws,  76  per  cent,  retained  their  earning  capacity 
till  the  end  of  1905;  63  per  cent,  to  the  end  of  1906; 
54  per  cent,  to  the  end  of  1907;  48  per  cent,  to  the 
end  of  1908;  44  per  cent,  to  the  end  of  1909.  The 
proportions  for  women  were  somewhat  better,  being 
78  per  cent,  for  the  first  year  and  52  per  cent,  for 
the  last.  The  proportion  of  patients  discharged 
with  earning  capacity  restored  grows  larger  every 
year.  In  1909  it  was  83  per  cent,  for  males  and 
females;  and  86  per  cent.,  if  the  cases  in  which  treat- 
ment lasted  only  14  days  or  less  are  omitted  from 
the  calculation.  Success  of  the  treatment  depends 
largely,  of  course,  upon  the  stage  of  the  disease  when 
the  patient  goes  to  the  sanatorium.  In  1909,  92 


260 


SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


per  cent,  of  those  admitted  in  the  first  stage  of  the 
disease  were  discharged  with  earning  capacity  re- 
stored. About  5  out  of  every  1,000  patients  dis- 
charged require  readmission  during  the  year  of  dis- 
charge, 59  after  one  year;  68  after  two  years,  45 
after  three  years,  and  33  after  four  years.1 

The  anti-tuberculosis  campaign  has  made  great 
headway  in  Germany  during*  the  last  few  years.  In 
1910  the  sum  of  480,964  marks  was  expended  for  aid 
and  support  of  the  general  movement,  of  which  al- 
most 300,000  marks  was  in  the  form  of  subventions 
to  tuberculosis  dispensaries  and  information  bureaus. 
There  are  also  sanatoria  for  tuberculous  children 
(22  in  operation  in  1911)  and  86  preventoriums  for 
those  likely  to  become  tuberculous,  which  give  treat- 
ment free  or  at  very  reasonable  rates.  In  addition 
there  are  over  100  forest  day  and  night  camps  and 
open-air  schools.  For  far  advanced  cases,  96  homes 

xThe  economic  results  of  institutional  treatment  in  the  case  of 
employees  of  the  Prussian-Hessian  railway  system  by  years,  1904- 
10  were: 


YEARS 

No.  OF 

PATIENTS 
UNDER 
FULL 
TREATMENT 

PATIENTS  FULLY  ABLE  TO  WORK  AFTER 

1 

YEAR 

2 

YEARS 

3 

YEARS 

4 
YEARS 

5 

YEARS 

6 

YEARS 

1904.. 
1905.. 
1906.. 
1907.. 
1908.  . 
1909.. 
1910.. 

716 
810 
1,180 
955 
1,152 
1,268 
1,422 

Per 
Cent. 
81.7 
85.3 
85.8 
81.0 
82.6 
86.4 
85.9 

Per 
Cent. 
74.6 
76.7 
78.1 
73.0 
75.4 
72.3 

Per 
Cent. 
66.6 
71.9 
73.0 
68.9 
75.2 

Per 
Cent. 
63.0 
68.2 
69.8 
65.6 

Per 
Cent. 
59.6 
65.2 
69.0 

Per 

Cent. 

64.0 

THE  WAR  UPON  DISEASE  261 

for  incurables  were  in  operation  in  1911;  also  17 
convalescing  homes  for  patients  discharged  from 
sanatoria  and  33  observation  stations,  chiefly  in 
connection  with  sanatoria  or  general  hospitals,  for 
the  study  of  incipient  cases.  Systematic  warfare 
against  the  disease  is  waged  by  a  large  number  of 
tuberculosis  associations  throughout  the  German 
Empire,  the  work  being  directed  and,  if  necessary, 
financially  helped  by  the  German  Central  Committee, 
which  is  under  the  protection  of  the  German  Em- 
press, and  whose  honorary  presiding  officer  is  the 
imperial  chancellor.  This  committee  receives  a 
small  imperial  subsidy  of  about  $14,000  annually. 
During  the  year  1910,  the  committee  expended 
177,300  marks  in  the  form  of  financial  aid  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  sanatoria,  33,316  marks  for  tuber- 
culosis museums,  besides  the  money  spent  for  prop- 
aganda, etc. 

Largely  as  a  result  of  the  campaign  against  tuber- 
culosis the  death-rate  from  the  disease  has  progres- 
sively declined.  For  the  empire  as  a  whole  it  dropped 
from  23.08  per  10,000  during  1895-9  to  18.45  dur- 
ing the  period  1905-9.  In  cities  the  rate  fell  from 
27.4  during  the  period  1890-4  to  17.9  in  the  period 
1905-9.  The  rate  in  Berlin  fell  from  34.7  per  10,000 
in  1880  to  17.9  in  1909;  in  Bremen,  from  39.7  to 
15.1;  in  Cologne,  from  41.4  to  15.6;  in  Dresden, 
from  36.9* to  17.7;  in  Essen,  from  40.9  to  10. 

The  total  amount  expended  for  treatment  and 


262  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

care  of  tuberculous  wage-earners  in  the  empire  in 

1910  in  special  sanatoria  erected  for  the  purpose  was 
about  17,500,000  marks,  this  being  in  addition  to 
the  sum  spent  in  methods  of  prevention  and  the 
national  campaign  against  tuberculosis,  in  which  in- 
surance institutions  have  co-operated  together  with 
the  government  authorities  of  the  empire,  the  states, 
and  municipalities.     Only  a  limited  number  of  those 
suffering  from  the  disease  can  be  accommodated 
and  given  full  treatment  in  the  sanatoria,  one  out  of 
every  13  or  14  at  most. 

The  tuberculosis  dispensary  has  also  had  a  re- 
markable development  in  recent  years.  In  1908 
there  were  only  175  of  these  institutions,  but  by 

1911  the  number  had  increased  to  528.    The  number 
of  forest  day  and  night  camps  increased  from  82  in 
1908  to  98  in  1911.    There  were  in  that  year  15 
forest  schools  for  tuberculous  children  and  2  agri- 
cultural colonies  for  tuberculous  wage-earners.    The 
work  of  the  dispensary  is  to  examine  for  symptoms 
of  the  disease,  after  which  it  aims  particularly  at 
improving  the  hygienic  conditions  of  the  patient's 
home.     During  the  four  years  ending  October  1, 
1908,  the  Berlin  information  bureaus  and  tuber- 
culosis   dispensaries    medically    examined    82,006 
persons  for  symptoms  of  the  disease.     They  also 
examined,  reported  upon,  and  put  in  a  more  or  less 
sanitary  condition  the  homes  of  45,583  tuberculous 
wage-earners. 


THE  WAR  UPON  DISEASE  263 

A  more  far-reaching  effort  is  being  made  to  combat 
tuberculosis  by  improving  housing  conditions  of  the 
wage-earners — a  movement  which  is  being  vigor- 
ously pushed  and  liberally  supported  by  the  insurance 
institutions  as  well  as  through  provincial  and  com- 
munal authorities.  Up  to  December  31,  1910,  320,- 
000,000  marks  had  been  furnished  by  the  invalidity- 
insurance  institutions  in  the  form  of  loans  for  building 
purposes.  The  government  keeps  strict  watch  over 
the  plans  of  housing  projects,  in  order  that  specula- 
tion may  be  eliminated  and  the  public  good  pro- 
tected. 

The  invalidity-insurance  institutions,  comprehend- 
ing in  their  membership  practically  the  entire  wage- 
earning  population,  seek  to  keep  the  morbidity-rate, 
as  distinguished  from  the  death-rate,  as  low  as 
possible.  It  is  these  institutions  and  not  the  life- 
insurance  companies  that  have  been  active  in  the 
anti-tuberculosis  campaign. 

A  report  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor 
comments  on  the  war  on  tuberculosis  as  follows: 

"The  marvellous  results  achieved  in  the  German 
Empire  through  the  intelligent  co-ordination  of  pub- 
lic and  private  agencies  enlisted  in  the  effort  to  re- 
duce the  mortality  from  tuberculosis  to  a  minimum 
entitles  the  German  experiment,  as  the  first  and  most 
successful  of  its  kind,  to  the  admiration  of  the  entire 
civilized  world.  Whether  what  has  been  done  has 
paid  for  itself  in  a  strict  financial  sense  is  wholly 
secondary  to  the  social  results  which  have  been 


264  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

achieved,  and  which  have  unquestionably  conferred 
an  infinite  amount  of  good  upon  the  German  people 
engaged  in  German  industry  in  successful  compe- 
tition with  the  economically  more  advantageously 
situated  wage-earners  of  many  other  lands/'1 

J"Care  of  Tuberculous  Wage  Earners  in  Germany,"  Bulletin  of 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor,  No.  101. 


CHAPTER  XX 
GOVERNING   CITIES   BY  EXPERTS 

THE  German  city  is  a  cross-section  of  the  nation. 
It  is  Germany  at  her  best.  Here,  as  in  the  army, 
the  navy,  and  the  civil  service,  one  finds  the  most 
highly  organized  efficiency  and  honesty.  Corrup- 
tion is  almost  unknown.  There  is  no  such  thing  as 
the  spoils  system  or  favoritism.  The  higher  munic- 
ipal offices  are  filled  with  men  prepared  for  the 
profession  of  administration  by  education,  long  ex- 
perience, and  achievement.  The  council,  too,  com- 
mands the  services  of  the  business  and  professional 
classes,  who  serve  without  pay  and  give  of  their  time 
in  an  unstinted  way  to  the  community. 

The  city  is  also  a  cross-section  of  the  state  in  its 
sovereignty.  It  has  large  powers  and  great  freedom 
of  action.  It  controls  private  property  just  as  it 
controls  persons.  It  owns  many  things  and  operates 
them  in  the  public  interest.  There  is  a  solicitous 
concern  for  the  health,  well-being,  and  happiness  of 
the  people,  and  an  intelligent  understanding  and 
approval  of  municipal  socialism  by  all  classes  that 
is  not  to  be  found  any  place  else  in  Europe. 

Rule  by  an  economic  class  prevails  in  the  city  as 

265 


266  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

it  does  in  the  state.  Just  as  Prussia  is  governed 
by  the  great  estate  owners,  so  the  city  is  governed 
by  the  large  taxpayers,  by  the  business  and  com- 
mercial classes,  who,  under  the  three-class  system  of 
voting,  have  a  preponderating  power  at  the  polls. 
They  elect  the  members  of  the  city  council,  who,  in 
turn,  select  the  burgomaster  and  members  of  the 
magistrat.  In  Prussia  the  working  classes  have  but 
few  representatives  in  the  council  and  could  not 
under  any  circumstances  control  the  administration. 

Forty-five  years  ago  there  were  but  few  large  cities 
in  Germany,  and  they  were  capitals  of  the  two  score 
kingdoms,  principalities,  and  free  cities.  During 
the  intervening  years  urban  population  has  grown 
rapidly,  possibly  more  rapidly  than  in  America. 
This  is  particularly  true  in  Prussia  and  along  the 
lower  Rhine,  where  industry  has  developed  with 
such  astounding  rapidity. 

Diisseldorf  had  but  70,000  people  in  1871.  In 
1910  it  had  356,000.  Frankfort-on-the-Main  grew 
from  80,000  to  401,000  during  the  same  period. 
Berlin  was  a  capital  city  of  but  800,000  in  1870.  To- 
day it  contains  2,064,153  people.  There  are  thirty- 
three  cities  in  Germany  whose  combined  population 
is  over  12,000,000  people.  This  is  18  per  cent,  of  the 
whole,  while  the  total  urban  population  equals  49 
per  cent,  of  the  total.  Since  1880  the  urban  growth 
has  been  particularly  rapid.  Breslau  increased  in 
population  by  86.9  per  cent,  in  thirty  years  from  1880 


GOVERNING  CITIES  BY  EXPERTS        267 

to  1910,  Cologne  by  253  per  cent.,  Dresden  by  248 
per  cent.,  Hanover  by  146  per  cent.,  Nuremberg  by 
234.1  per  cent.,  and  Chemnitz  by  188.1  per  cent. 
During  the  same  period  Cincinnati  increased  in  popu- 
lation by  42.8  per  cent.,  Buffalo  by  173.4  per  cent., 
New  Orleans  by  56.9  per  cent.,  Providence  by  113.9 
per  cent.,  and  Rochester  by  144.1  per  cent.  Taking 
the  empire  as  a  whole,  urban  population  increased 
from  about  30  per  cent,  in  1870  to  49  per  cent,  in 
1910.  There  are  now  47  cities  of  over  100,000  popu- 
lation, while  the  total  urban  population  amounts  to 
over  30,000,000. 

Fortunately  the  machinery  of  administration  was 
admirably  suited  to  meet  the  problems  created  by 
this  rapid  urban  growth.  The  municipal  code  has 
remained  but  little  changed  since  the  reforms  of 
Baron  von  Stein  in  1808.  The  cities  have  great 
freedom  of  action  in  matters  of  local  concern.  They 
are  almost  sovereign  in  their  control  over  purely 
domestic  matters.  Doctor  Albert  Shaw  says: 

"There  is  in  the  German  conception  of  city 
government  no  limit  whatever  to  the  municipal 
functions.  It  is  the  business  of  the  municipality 
to  promote  in  every  feasible  way  its  own  welfare 
and  the  welfare  of  its  citizens."1 

This  idea  of  municipal  autonomy  runs  back  to 
early  times.  During  the  later  Middle  Ages  the  towns 
obtained  grants  of  freedom  from  the  overlords  by 

1  Municipal  Government  in  Continental  Europe,  p.  323. 


268  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

conquest  or  purchase.  Many  of  the  towns  in  fact 
were  free  from  all  obligations  except  those  to  the 
empire,  and  some  of  these  free  cities  like  Frankfort, 
Hamburg,  Bremen,  and  Liibeck  retained  their  free- 
dom down  to  very  recent  times.  Even  to-day  Ham- 
burg, Bremen,  and  Liibeck  are  free  and  independent 
states  within  the  empire. 

Freedom  is  one  explanation  of  the  achievements 
of  the  German  city.  It  also  explains  the  attitude 
of  officials  and  citizens.  The  people  have  a  love  and 
regard  for  their  cities;  they  desire  to  serve  on  the 
council  or  voluntary  committees.  They  also  bear 
taxes  with  unusual  willingness  and  submit  to  con- 
trol of  the  community  for  the  common  interest. 
Back  of  all  other  explanations  of  the  German  city 
is  its  sovereignty,  its  autonomy,  its  freedom.  It  is 
free  to  make  experiments,  which,  when  successful,  are 
adopted  by  other  communities. 

In  addition,  the  administrative  machinery  is  very 
simple.  The  municipal  code  provides  for  a  large 
council  elected  by  districts,  and  an  administrative 
group  or  magistrat  presided  over  by  the  burgo- 
master or  mayor.  In  addition  to  its  ordinary  activ- 
ities the  city  performs  many  services  for  the  state, 
such  as  the  control  of  the  church,  the  supervision  of 
education,  the  insurance  funds,  and  many  other 
services  which  in  this  country  and  in  England  are 
carried  on  by  the  state  or  left  in  the  hands  of  pri- 
vate individuals. 


GOVERNING  CITIES  BY  EXPERTS        269 

The  town  council  is  a  large  body;  much  larger  than 
in  the  United  States.  The  council  of  Berlin  consists 
of  144  members,  of  Charlottenburg  72,  of  Breslau 
102,  of  Diisseldorf  36,  and  of  Bonn  39.  The  mem- 
bers are  elected  from  wards  for  a  term  of  six  years. 
The  majority  of  the  members  of  the  council  must  be 
house  owners. 

There  are  92  house  owners  out  of  144  members  of 
the  council  in  Berlin,  37  out  of  72  in  Charlotten- 
burg, and  53  out  of  102  in  Konigsberg.  This  tends 
to  make  the  council  conservative.  In  addition  the 
method  of  election  precludes  any  popular  control  of 
the  city,  just  as  the  constitution  of  Prussia  and  the 
empire  preclude  any  popular  control  of  the  state 
and  the  nation.  This  is  especially  true  in  Prussia, 
where  the  " three-class"  system  of  voting  prevails. 
This  excludes  the  working  class  from  any  real  par- 
ticipation in  the  government  and,  as  it  works  out  in 
practice,  lodges  the  control  in  from  5  to  10  per  cent, 
of  the  voters. 

In  ascertaining  the  power  of  the  electors,  tax- 
payers are  listed  according  to  the  amount  of  income 
taxes  paid  by  them  just  as  they  are  for  state  elec- 
tions to  parliament.  The  taxpayers  are  then  di- 
vided into  three  classes,  each  one  of  which  elects  one- 
third  of  the  town  council.  The  classification  is  made 
as  follows:  beginning  with  the  highest  single  tax- 
payer, as  many  are  checked  off  as  are  necessary  to 
make  up  one-third  of  the  receipts  from  the  income 


270  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

tax.  This  group  elects  one-third  of  the  council. 
The  process  is  continued  to  make  up  the  second  class, 
which  elects  another  third  of  the  council,  while  the 
third  list,  which  contains  the  great  majority  of  the 
electors,  elects  the  remaining  third.  For  instance, 
in  Berlin,  in  1912,  out  of  386,736  qualified  electors, 
91.5  per  cent,  or  353,704  were  in  the  third  class,  and 
were  permitted  to  elect  but  one-third  of  the  council, 
while  936  were  in  the  first  class,  and  32,096  in  the 
second  class.  Between  8  and  9  per  cent,  of  all  the 
electors  elected  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the 
town  council.  In  the  city  of  Essen,  at  one  time, 
four  individuals  made  up  the  first  class  of  voters. 
The  qualifications  for  the  suffrage  differ  in  the  dif- 
ferent states.  In  Bavaria  a  system  of  proportional 
representation  prevails,  while  the  other  southern 
states  have  modified  their  system  to  some  extent 
in  the  direction  of  democracy. 

This  three-class  system  of  elections  is  another  in- 
dication of  the  caste-like  organization  of  Germany, 
for  just  as  the  empire  is  governed  by  the  landed  aris- 
tocracy of  Prussia  through  the  constitution  of  1871 
and  the  unfair  distribution  of  seats,  so  the  cities  are 
ruled  by  the  big  taxpayers,  the  bankers,  landowners, 
and  business  men.  Neither  in  the  cities  nor  in  the 
states  is  there  any  belief  in  democracy  or  any  pro- 
vision for  the  expression  of  the  popular  will. 

The  town  councillor  is  the  only  official  elected  by 
the  people.  The  mayor  or  burgomaster  is  chosen 


GOVERNING  CITIES  BY  EXPERTS        271 

by  the  council,  as  are  his  assistants  who  form  the 
magistrat.  Together  they  form  the  administrative 
branch  of  government,  and  are  the  centre  of  the 
municipal  system. 

The  burgomaster  is  a  distinguished  official,  the 
most  distinguished  in  the  city.  The  position  is  one 
of  great  dignity,  and  is  the  final  goal  toward  which 
subordinate  officials  aspire.  Generous  salaries  are 
paid,  while  on  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office  the 
burgomaster  receives  a  substantial  pension  for  the 
remaining  years  of  his  life.  In  addition  he  has  large 
powers,  and  in  many  cities  is  a  member  of  the  Prus- 
sian House  of  Lords.  Berlin  and  some  of  the  larger 
cities  have  an  ober-burgomaster  and  another  burgo- 
master, while  Munich  has  an  ober-burgomaster  and 
three  other  mayors.  Most  towns,  however,  have 
only  a  single  chief  executive. 

Unlike  America  and  England,  the  mayors  are 
chosen  for  long  periods,  usually  for  twelve  years. 
On  the  expiration  of  their  first  term  they  may  be  re- 
elected  for  similar  terms,  or  appointed  for  life.  In 
Wurtemberg,  the  mayor  is  chosen  by  the  citizens 
directly,  but  in  all  the  other  states  he  is  chosen  by 
the  town  council.  The  selection  of  the  mayor  as 
well  as  the  members  of  the  magistrat  must  be  con- 
firmed by  the  government  in  Prussia  and  Bavaria, 
although  this  provision  is  not  found  in  the  other 
states.  In  some  cities  the  mayor  is  nominated  di- 
rectly by  the  King.  Usually  the  royal  assent  is 


272  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

given  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  in  some  instances 
the  crown  has  rejected  the  choice  of  the  council, 
and  in  Berlin  where  such  rejection  occurred,  the  city 
was  without  a  burgomaster  for  some  years.  If  the 
selection  fails  to  secure  the  royal  sanction  the  coun- 
cil makes  another  choice,  and  if  this  is  not  ap- 
proved the  appointment  is  made  by  a  district  presi- 
dent until  an  acceptable  selection  is  made. 

Here,  again,  is  an  example  of  Prussian  statecraft, 
of  centralized  control  combined  with  local  freedom. 
Under  this  system  the  cities  must  always  conform 
to  the  will  of  the  King  of  Prussia.  There  is  no 
chance  for  the  development  of  democratic  or  revo- 
lutionary ideas,  for  the  burgomaster  and  members 
of  the  magistrat  are  the  controlling  officials  of  the 
city.  They  make  the  policies  of  the  municipality 
and  carry  them  into  execution.  And  they  are  always 
responsible  to  the  King,  who  not  only  approves  of 
their  selection,  but  through  this  approval  controls 
their  advancement  as  well.  In  addition  the  In- 
terior Department  supervises  the  activities  of  the 
city.  It  exercises  a  centralized  veto  upon  its  under- 
takings. It  directs  education,  controls  the  police, 
and  is  itself  responsible  for  the  administration  of  the 
property  of  the  church,  the  insurance  funds,  and 
many  other  activities  which  are  delegated  to  the 
city  for  performance.  So  long  as  all  goes  well  there 
is  little  interference,  for  the  central  authorities  are 
sympathetic  to  the  idea  of  municipal  freedom.  And 


GOVERNING  CITIES  BY  EXPERTS        273 

so  long  as  the  executive  officials  conform  to  the  will 
of  the  higher  officials  there  is  complete  co-operation 
and  encouragement.  But  should  the  city  select  an 
official  who  is  persona  non  grata  to  the  King,  should 
too  radical  ideas  be  fostered,  or  too  new  and  too  ad- 
vanced socialistic  proposals  be  undertaken,  the 
central  authorities  would  interfere  and  the  city 
would  ultimately  be  compelled  to  bow  to  the  royal 
will. 

The  powers  of  the  German  burgomaster  are  some- 
what similar  to  those  enjoyed  by  mayors  in  this 
country.  He  presides  over  the  magistrat  and  directs 
its  proceedings.  He  also  subdivides  the  work 
among  his  associates.  He  can  even  intervene  when 
the  town  council  suggests  some  act  outside  of  its 
power  or  in  derogation  of  his  position.  His  power 
of  removal  is  limited,  however,  to  the  right  of  sus- 
pension. 

While  there  are  no  special  qualifications  for  the 
office  of  burgomaster,  men  are  usually  selected  who 
have  had  long  training  and  experience.  Usually 
they  have  taken  a  university  or  technical  course 
with  the  civil  service  in  view  and  subsequently 
have  served  in  a  subordinate  municipal  position 
from  which  they  have  risen  to  the  post  of  burgo- 
master in  a  small  town.  When  a  vacancy  offers  in 
some  other  city  a  number  of  candidates  present 
themselves.  Often  men  enter  municipal  service 
through  the  town  council  or  the  state  civil  service. 


274  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

In  the  larger  cities  men  are  selected  because  of  dis- 
tinguished achievements  elsewhere.  For  instance, 
Doctor  Martin  Kirschner  was  first  a  judge,  later  he 
was  elected  to  the  post  of  town  councillor  in  Bres- 
lau.  From  this  he  was  appointed  the  city's  legal 
adviser,  and  in  1893  he  was  called  to  become  one 
of  the  burgomasters  of  Berlin.  Subsequently  he 
was  elected  chief  burgomaster,  which  position  he 
held  until  shortly  before  his  death.  Doctor  George 
I.  Bender,  the  chief  burgomaster  of  Breslau,  also 
entered  the  municipal  service  through  the  law.  He 
became  a  magistrat  in  the  city  of  Thon,  and  in  1888 
was  elected  burgomaster  of  that  city.  In  1891  he 
was  chosen  to  chief  burgomaster  of  Breslau.  Prob- 
ably the  most  distinguished  municipal  official  in 
Germany  was  Doctor  Adickes,  of  Frankfort-on-the- 
Main,  who  entered  municipal  service  as  burgo- 
master of  Dortmund  at  the  end  of  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War.  Here  he  served  for  four  years.  In 
1877  he  was  chosen  burgomaster  of  Altona,  and  in 
1883  became  its  chief  burgomaster.  In  1891  the 
city  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main  called  him  to  that 
city  as  burgomaster,  which  office  he  held  up  to  1913. 
During  this  time  he  raised  the  administration  of 
that  city  to  a  high  order  of  excellence.  Under  his 
administration  Frankfort  became  a  laboratory  of 
experiments  in  taxation,  in  town-planning,  in  in- 
dustrial, housing,  and  harbor  developments.  When 
he  became  burgomaster  in  1891  the  population  of  the 


GOVERNING  CITIES  BY  EXPERTS        275 

city  was  but  180,000;  to-day  it  is  414,000.  Frank- 
fort suggests  a  city  of  1, 000, 000  people  instead  of 
less  than  half  that  number. 

Diisseldorf  is  another  example  of  the  same  kind 
of  marvellous  municipal  building  under  the  inspira- 
tion of  a  competent  official.  In  1898  Doctor  Wil- 
helm  Marx,  a  business  man,  was  called  to  be  its 
burgomaster.  He  surrounded  himself  with  other 
trained  men  and  proceeded  to  build  a  city  in  the 
centre  of  the  lower  Rhine  region  which  would  at- 
tract business  and  professional  classes  from  the 
surrounding  territory.  Around  about  Diisseldorf 
were  Cologne,  Essen,  Barmen,  Elberfeld,  Duisburg, 
and  many  other  towns  striving  for  population  and 
commerce.  But  Diisseldorf  became  in  many  ways 
the  experiment  station  of  Germany.  With  the  aid 
of  experts  it  was  planned  in  a  big,  comprehensive 
way  to  provide  for  years  of  growth.  All  of  the  public- 
service  corporations  were  taken  over  and  operated 
by  the  city.  Docks  and  harbors  were  built,  the 
Rhine  river  front  was  reclaimed,  house  and  land 
policies  were  promoted,  and  at  the  end  of  his  term 
of  twelve  years  the  indebtedness  of  Diisseldorf  had 
been  increased  to  $100  per  capita,  although  85  per 
cent,  of  this  indebtedness  was  for  activities  which 
involved  no  burden  to  the  taxpayers. 

Diisseldorf  is  known  as  the  Garden  City  of  Ger- 
many. It  has  attracted  numerous  manufacturers, 
has  lured  to  itself  thousands  of  retired  business  and 


276  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

professional  men,  and  is  a  great  art  centre  as  well 
as  a  place  of  resort  for  foreign  tourists. 

This  is  but  typical  of  the  careers  of  many  mayors 
who  have  contributed  so  much  to  the  wonderful 
cities  that  have  sprung  up  all  over  Germany  during 
the  last  twenty-five  years.  They  have  the  support 
of  equally  competent  officials  and  of  the  community. 
Cities  compete  with  one  another  in  various  lines  of 
municipal  activities,  and  in  this  competition  the 
mayor  is  the  directing  genius.  In  miniature  his 
position  is  not  unlike  that  of  a  constitutional  mon- 
arch or  the  president  of  a  great  corporation. 

Burgomasters  receive  high  salaries.  Berlin  pays 
the  chief  mayor  $10,000  a  year.  Frankfort  pays 
$9,000,  Dusseldorf  $8,350,  Charlottenburg  $7,600, 
Breslau  and  Cologne  $7,500.  Other  towns  of  from 
100,000  to  300,000  inhabitants  pay  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  $5,000  a  year.  In  addition,  substantial 
perquisites  attach  to  the  office.  In  some  towns  a 
residence  is  added.  Upon  the  expiration  of  the 
term  of  office  liberal  pensions  are  granted.  This  is 
an  obligation  even  where  the  mayor  has  proven 
unsatisfactory,  and  is  not  re-elected.  The  pension 
usually  amounts  to  from  one-quarter  to  one-half  of 
the  salary  received. 

Associated  with  the  mayor  is  an  administrative 
staff  or  magistrat,  the  members  of  which  are  also 
elected  by  the  council.  They  enjoy  powers  analogous 
to  those  enjoyed  by  the  directors  of  the  various 


GOVERNING  CITIES  BY  EXPERTS        277 

departments  under  the  federal  or  commission  form 
of  government  in  America.  Members  of  the  magis- 
trat  are  selected  by  the  town  council,  frequently 
after  competition,  to  which  men  from  all  over  Ger- 
many present  themselves.  The  size  of  the  magis- 
trat  is  determined  by  the  council  and  the  number  of 
activities  in  which  the  city  is  engaged.  Berlin  has 
34  members,  Breslau  29,  Charlottenburg  25,  Dantzig 
25,  Diisseldorf  12,  and  Frankfort  24.  These  cities 
are  all  in  Prussia.  Dresden  has  39  members  in  the 
magistrat,  Leipsic  37,  Mannheim  31,  and  Munich  37. 

Approximately  one-half  of  the  members  of  the 
magistrat  are  salaried,  the  other  half  serve  as 
honorary  advisers.  In  the  smaller  towns  and  in  the 
states  outside  of  Prussia  the  unsalaried  members 
exceed  the  salaried  ones. 

The  salaried  members  are  selected  with  special 
reference  to  their  fitness  for  a  particular  depart- 
ment. One  is  assigned  to  be  director  of  law,  another 
of  schools,  another  of  finance,  another  of  public 
works,  another  of  poor  relief.  Each  is  trained  by 
education  and  experience  for  the  place  to  which  he 
is  called.  Like  the  burgomasters,  they  have  gen- 
erally risen  from  post  to  post,  and  are  frequently 
called  from  one  city  to  another.  The  salaries  paid 
are  liberal,  while  an  assured  position  and  a  pension 
on  retirement  add  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  ser- 
vice. The  unsalaried  members  are  usually  men  of 
distinction  and  comparative  leisure. 


278  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

A  much  larger  number  of  administrative  chiefs 
is  provided  for  than  in  the  United  States.  The 
salaried  directors  alone  in  the  average  German  city 
are  twice  as  numerous  as  in  the  average  American 
city,  and  including  the  unsalaried  members  they 
are  from  four  to  six  times  as  numerous. 

Special  provision  is  made  for  courses  in  adminis- 
tration in  all  the  universities,  while  within  the  last 
few  years  a  number  of  colleges  have  been  opened 
for  the  special  training  of  officials.  Diisseldorf 
opened  a  school  of  administration  a  few  years  ago 
which  covers  the  whole  field  of  municipal  activity. 
Cologne  has  a  similar  college,  while  Berlin  has  a 
college  of  town-planning.  The  course  of  instruc- 
tion includes  finance,  taxation,  police,  health,  and 
social  activities  in  general.  In  some  towns  training 
is  required  as  a  prerequisite  of  admission  to  the 
municipal  service. 

This  is  the  administrative  machinery  of  the  Ger- 
man city.  It  is  admirably  suited  to  the  complex 
problems  of  municipal  housekeeping.  It  is  designed 
to  secure  permanence  and  efficiency.  And  the  city 
is  viewed  not  as  a  political  but  as  a  social  agency. 
The  former  is  but  incidental.  The  main  purpose  is 
to  promote  the  common  welfare  in  every  possible 
way.  And  in  the  carrying  out  of  the  idea  the  state 
is  an  aid  rather  than  a  hindrance.  It  encourages 
new  undertakings  and  suggests  projects  like  hous- 
ing, land  purchase,  banking,  the  building  of  docks 


GOVERNING  CITIES  BY  EXPERTS        279 

and  harbors,  and  the  promotion  of  education. 
Statistics  are  gathered  and  successful  experiments 
of  one  town  are  made  known  to  another.  Con- 
ferences are  frequently  held  for  the  promotion  of 
housing,  health,  education,  and  town-planning, 
attended  by  experts  from  all  over  the  empire. 
Municipal  administration  in  Germany  is  not  the 
plaything  of  politics — it  is  the  most  serious  problem 
of  statecraft,  and  it  commands  the  best  thought  of 
the  empire. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
MUNICIPAL   SOCIALISM 

THE  German  cities  have  carried  socialization 
further  than  have  the  individual  states.  They  own 
the  greatest  variety  of  undertakings  and  are  con- 
stantly extending  the  boundaries  of  municipal  ad- 
ministration. There  is  no  theoretical  distinction 
between  the  so-called  natural  monopolies  and  com- 
petitive industries,  although  quite  obvious  principles 
of  action  underlie  the  policies  adopted.  The  public- 
service  utilities,  such  as  street  railways,  gas,  elec- 
tric light,  and  water  companies  which  occupy  the 
streets  and  require  special  permits  or  franchises, 
are  generally  publicly  owned.  Harbors  and  docks 
are  operated  as  integral  parts  of  the  transportation 
system  and  as  an  aid  to  industry  and  commerce. 
Housing  is  treated  as  a  quasi-public  utility,  while 
land  ownership  and  land  speculation  are  engaged  in 
partly  for  fiscal,  partly  for  social,  reasons.  Other 
considerations  support  public  banking,  markets, 
abattoirs,  bathing  establishments,  and  restaurants. 
These  are  part  of  a  social  programme  and  are  sanc- 
tioned by  the  traditions  of  the  country  as  well  as  by 
the  long-established  policy  of  protecting  the  com- 

280 


MUNICIPAL  SOCIALISM  281 

munity  from  extortion,  monopoly,  and  the  dangers 
which  the  modern  industrial  city  involves. 

The  policy  of  municipal  socialism  is  encouraged 
by  the  state,  and  the  laws  are  adjusted  to  the  easy 
acquisition  and  financing  of  municipal  projects. 
At  the  same  time  the  high  character  of  men  in  the 
councils  and  the  magistracy  insure  efficiency  and 
honesty  of  administration.  The  average  German 
city  has  at  its  command  more  diversified  talent 
and  a  more  highly  trained  administrative  staff,  and 
it  carries  on  its  enterprises  with  greater  economy 
and  efficiency  than  most  private  corporations. 

As  stated  elsewhere,  municipal  socialism  is  en- 
couraged by  the  great  freedom  of  action  which  the 
city  enjoys.  It  can  experiment  as  it  wills.  There 
is  no  inelastic  enumeration  of  powers  in  the  munic- 
ipal code.  Generally  speaking,  the  city  can  do 
anything  an  individual  or  corporation  may  do.  It 
is  a  free  and  independent  entity  in  the  industrial 
field  and  enjoys  much  of  the  sovereignty  of  the 
nation.  There  are  no  minute  and  exasperating  con- 
stitutional or  legal  limitations  upon  its  powers,  no 
paralyzing  restrictions  imposed  from  above.  The 
city  is  free  to  live  its  own  life  in  its  own  way,  and 
to  promote  the  well-being  of  its  people  as  the  town 
council  may  decide. 

Nor  are  there  any  constitutional  or  legal  debt 
limits  upon  the  cities.  The  city  is  as  free  to  issue 
loans  as  a  private  corporation.  It  can  borrow  to 


282  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

any  extent  that  it  wills  and  for  any  purpose,  subject 
only  to  the  approval  of  the  central  administrative 
authorities,  which  must  be  satisfied  that  the  under- 
taking proposed  is  a  reasonably  proper  one  for  the 
city  to  carry  on. 

Here  again  we  see  the  wisdom  of  German  state- 
craft, a  wisdom  that  is  unexpected.  For  Germany 
is  so  autocratic,  so  fearful  of  democracy,  that  we 
would  expect  a  highly  centralized  control  of  the 
city  and  a  jealous  supervision  of  its  life,  such  as  is 
to  be  found  in  France,  Great  Britain,  and  America, 
where  a  far  greater  degree  of  political  liberty  pre- 
vails but  where  local  government  is  subject  to  the 
closest  and  most  exacting  control  by  legislative 
authorities.  But  Germany  has  reversed  this  policy 
and  has  given  the  cities  autonomous  powers  not  only 
over  people  but  over  property.  It  is  because  of 
this  fact  that  German  cities  have  developed  as 
have  no  cities  in  the  world.  They  have  been  free  to 
experiment  as  they  willed  or  their  local  necessities 
suggested. 

Cities,  too,  have  long  been  familiar  with  the  idea 
of  owning  things.  Villages  and  towns  have  pos- 
sessed common  lands  from  very  early  times,  which 
are  cultivated  by  the  community  or  leased  to 
its  members.  Markets  were  general  in  mediaeval 
times,  as  were  slaughter-houses,  savings-banks,  and 
bakeries.  During  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  many  towns  provided  themselves  with 


MUNICIPAL  SOCIALISM  283 

water  and  gas,  which  were  supplied  not  so  much  for 
profit  as  for  protection  and  service. 

A  revival  of  communal  trading  followed  the 
Franco-Prussian  War.  It  was  encouraged  by  the 
Socialists,  but  was  largely  brought  about  by  the 
business  classes.  In  addition,  with  the  birth  of 
town-planning,  it  was  generally  realized  that  many 
activities  must  be  owned  by  the  city  in  order  that 
town  widening  and  improvement  projects  could  be 
carried  through  in  an  orderly  way.  This  was  par- 
ticularly true  of  transportation,  for  the  old  towns 
were  very  crowded.  Population  was  congested 
within  the  protecting  fortifications  and  when  these 
were  removed  it  was  necessary  to  plan  not  only 
the  surrounding  territory,  but  to  distribute  popu- 
lation as  widely  as  possible  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
venting the  recurrence  of  bad  housing  conditions. 
These,  too,  were  years  of  rapid  industrial  develop- 
ment, which  led  cities  to  build  docks  and  harbors 
for  the  encouragement  of  trade  and  commerce. 
These  causes,  along  with  the  expectation  of  sub- 
stantial profits  which  would  relieve  taxation,  com- 
bined to  promote  industrial  undertakings,  until 
to-day  the  German  city  has  carried  municipal 
socialism  further  than  have  any  other  cities  in  the 
world. 

Municipal  ownership  in  this  country  and  in  Eng- 
land has  been  limited  to  the  so-called  public-service 
corporations,  on  the  assumption  that  these  indus- 


284  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

tries  differ  so  radically  from  competitive  pursuits 
that  they  alone  are  a  proper  subject  for  municipal 
activity.  There  is  no  such  clean-cut  distinction  in 
Germany.  Each  proposal  is  judged  on  its  merits, 
on  the  need  and  relative  advantages  of  private  or 
public  operation.  Moreover,  when  it  is  decided 
to  take  over  an  existing  property  that  is  the  end  of 
it.  There  is  no  protracted  warfare,  no  exhausting 
delays,  no  prolonged  litigation.  The  terms  of  pur- 
chase and  of  transfer  are  arranged  with  the  sim- 
plicity and  decisiveness  of  an  ordinance  providing 
for  the  condemnation  of  any  other  property. 

As  an  indication  of  the  extent  to  which  municipal 
socialism  has  been  carried,  it  appears  that  of  1,279 
Prussian  towns  of  all  sizes  reporting  in  1906,  561 
owned  their  water-works,  440  the  gas-works,  201  the 
electric-works,  54  the  tramways,  426  the  abattoirs 
and  stock-yards,  730  bathing  establishments,  38 
markets,  19  docks,  42  stone  and  lime  quarries,  17 
breweries,  104  inns  and  restaurants,  45  brick-works, 
and  23  mills.  In  addition,  individual  cities  own 
wine  cellars,  refrigerating-works,  bakeries,  dairies, 
ferries,  and  other  activities.1  A  number  of  South 
German  cities  carry  on  wine  handling,  while  others 
have  printing-works.  Nuremberg  owns  an  orchard 
and  stone -quarries.  Almost  all  cities  operate  sav- 
ings-banks and  pawn-shops,  and  many  of  them 
either  own  or  co-operate  in  the  building  of  work- 

1  Dawson,  Municipal  Life  and  Government  in  Germany,  p.  214.' 


MUNICIPAL  SOCIALISM  285 

men's  homes.  Cities  engage  in  land  speculation, 
while  almost  all  the  larger  cities  own  their  own 
theatres,  opera-houses,  and  some  of  the  more  pro- 
gressive ones  carry  the  principle  still  further  and 
unite  their  funds  with  those  of  private  enterprises 
from  which  they  expect  to  make  a  substantial  profit. 
The  city  of  Diisseldorf  owns  more  than  half  of  the 
stock  of  an  interurban  railway  which  connects  a 
number  of  smaller  towns  with  Diisseldorf.  The 
company  also  operates  in  land  speculation. 

An  even  larger  proportion  of  the  larger  cities  own 
the  public-service  enterprises.  A  report  made  in 
1908  of  85  cities  of  over  50,000  inhabitants  shows 
that  79  own  their  water-works,  65  their  gas-works, 
63  the  electricity  supply,  35  the  tramways,  and  82 
the  abattoirs  or  slaughter-houses,  while  a  large  per- 
centage of  the  cities  between  5,000  and  20,000  and 
between  20,000  and  50,000  own  these  same  activities.1 

In  the  majority  of  instances  the  tramways  and 
gas-works  were  originally  operated  by  private  cor- 
porations under  grants  from  the  cities.  Substantial 
revenues  were  and  are  received  for  these  conces- 
sions. In  1910  Berlin  received  $1,570,000  in  royal- 
ties from  the  private  electrical-works.  In  the  same 
year  Konigsberg  received  $150,000  and  Strasburg 
$95,000.  The  privately  owned  tramways  in  28 
of  the  larger  cities  paid  over  $2,000,000  in  royalties 
in  1910.  In  that  year  Berlin  derived  a  revenue  of 

1  Dawson,  supra,  p.  216. 


286  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

$2,500,000  from  concessions  of  all  kinds.  But 
private  ownership  has  generally  proved  to  be  un- 
satisfactory and  the  tendency  of  municipalities  is 
to  acquire  possession  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The 
tramway  undertakings  of  such  cities  as  Diisseldorf, 
Frankfort,  and  Cologne  are  among  the  best  equipped 
of  any  in  the  world.  The  construction  work  is  per- 
manent and  durable.  The  rails  are  flush  with  the 
pavement  and  the  cars  are  nearly  noiseless.  The 
cars,  too,  are  clean  and  freshly  painted.  Inside  one 
finds  maps  of  routes,  while  along  the  streets  are 
attractive  waiting-rooms  for  the  protection  of  pas- 
sengers in  inclement  weather.  The  rate  of  fare  in 
most  cities  is  2>£  cents,  sometimes  with  an  ad- 
ditional charge  for  a  transfer.  In  some  cities  the 
zone  system  is  followed  with  a  minimum  charge  of 
2J^  cents  for  about  2J^  miles,  with  an  additional 
charge  of  1  cent  for  the  maximum  ride,  even  when 
the  line  extends  out  into  the  country.  Cheap  season 
tickets  are  frequently  sold  to  workmen  and  school 
children.  In  some  cities  working  men's  tickets  are 
sold  for  12  cents  a  week  for  two  journeys  daily, 
available  during  the  early  morning  and  in  the  eve- 
ning. 

Public  ownership  of  the  electricity  supply  is  very 
common.  As  in  England,  the  municipalities  had 
generally  granted  concessions  to  private  companies 
for  the  gas  supply,  but  when  electricity  became  a 
commercial  product  municipal  authorities  generally 


MUNICIPAL  SOCIALISM  287 

undertook  the  building  and  operation  of  the  plants. 
Within  recent  years  a  movement  has  developed  for 
the  erection  of  large  central  generating  stations 
owned  and  operated  by  a  number  of  local  commu- 
nities, or  by  communities  working  with  private  en- 
terprises. These  central  plants  distribute  power  and 
light  over  a  large  area.  One  of  the  largest  of  these 
stations  is  at  Essen,  which  supplies  more  than  fifty 
communities  and  covers  an  area  of  2,300  square  miles 
in  its  service.  The  city  of  Munich  owns  51  per  cent, 
of  capital  in  the  company  organized  to  obtain  electric 
power  from  a  stream  in  the  Alps,  while  the  balance 
of  the  capital  is  subscribed  by  individuals. 

Nearly  all  of  the  cities  own  their  own  slaughter- 
houses. In  fact  this  is  an  activity  carried  on  by 
public  agencies  in  almost  every  country  of  the  world, 
with  the  exception  of  England  and  America.  Con- 
nected with  the  abattoirs  are  stock-yards  to  which 
the  farmers  bring  their  cattle  for  slaughter.  Usually 
all  of  the  meat  sold  in  the  city  is  required  to  be 
prepared  in  the  public  slaughter-houses,  private 
abattoirs  being  prohibited.  The  most  elaborate  sys- 
tem of  inspection  is  provided,  the  inspectors  being 
public  officials  who  have  taken  a  special  training  as 
veterinary  surgeons.  The  fees  for  slaughtering  are 
fixed  on  a  basis  sufficient  to  meet  the  operating  costs 
and  interest  charges  as  well  as  the  ultimate  repay- 
ment of  the  cost  of  the  structures  by  means  of  a 
sinking  fund. 


288  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

Mpst  of  the  large  towns  also  own  their  markets. 
In  the  larger  cities  a  series  of  markets  are  operated 
in  connection  with  the  central  one,  to  which  vege- 
tables and  farm  products  are  brought  to  be  dis- 
posed of  by  auction  to  dealers.  In  addition  there 
are  many  open  morning  markets  in  the  streets 
which  are  subsequently  cleared  for  traffic.  Market 
dealers  are  subject  to  supervision  to  see  that  the 
food  offered  is  clean  and  wholesome,  and  that  the 
charges  are  reasonable.  Regulations  are  also  en- 
acted to  control  prices  for  the  purpose  of  preventing 
monopoly  or  extortion. 

Many  towns  supply  milk  as  a  means  of  reduc- 
ing infant  mortality.  In  Berlin  the  milk  provided 
by  the  nine  children's  dispensaries  is  produced  on 
municipal  farms.  Dortmund  has  a  municipal 
dairy,  while  other  towns  have  co-operative  organi- 
zations for  the  supply  of  pure  milk  under  public 
regulation. 

During  the  shortage  of  meat  in  1911  and  1912 
many  cities  took  steps  to  reduce  the  cost  of  meat 
and  fish.  Over  two  hundred  towns  entered  into  con- 
tracts for  the  purchase  of  foreign  meat,  which  was 
either  sold  by  the  municipality  directly  or  through 
butchers  at  stipulated  prices.  By  this  means  the 
cost  of  meat  was  reduced  from  20  to  30  per  cent. 
Similar  measures  were  taken  for  the  purchase  and 
sale  of  fish  and  vegetables.1  By  these  and  other 

1  Dawson,  supra,  p.  246. 


MUNICIPAL  SOCIALISM  289 

means  the  German  city  controls  the  cost  of  living 
and  insures  the  quality  offered  for  sale.  Waste  is 
reduced  to  a  minimum,  as  is  the  chance  of  monopoly 
and  extortion.  In  addition  the  parcel  post  is  widely 
used  by  housewives  who  give  standing  orders  to 
farmers,  who  mail  meat,  poultry,  vegetables,  and 
flowers  daily  from  their  farms  many  miles  away. 
This  is  characteristic  of  the  thoroughness  and  watch- 
fulness of  German  municipal  life. 

Savings-banks  have  been  operated  by  German 
cities  for  centuries.  They  encourage  thrift  and  sup- 
ply a  financial  reservoir  for  the  carrying  on  of  public 
activities.  The  savings-banks  do  a  checking  busi- 
ness, as  do  the  postal-banks.  Over  90  per  cent,  of 
the  savings  in  Germany  are  in  public  institutions 
of  one  kind  or  another.  The  banks  are  managed 
by  an  official  of  the  city  at  practically  no  cost  to 
the  depositors  who  receive  back  the  full  earnings 
on  their  money  which  is  invested  in  public  securities, 
or  a  limited  number  of  public-utility  enterprises  of 
a  social  character. 

Insurance  is  also  provided.  Sometimes  it  is 
offered  by  the  state,  as  in  Bavaria,  but  more  fre- 
quently it  is  carried  on  by  the  city.  Berlin,  Ham- 
burg, and  other  towns  have  fire-insurance  societies, 
while  in  the  country  districts  groups  of  commu- 
nities have  organized  for  mutual  insurance  against 
accident  liability.  Frankfort  has  insured  itself 
against  accidents  since  1888,  and  it  is  estimated 


290  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

that  from  $45,000  to  $50,000  has  been  saved  during 
twenty  years  as  a  result  of  this  action. 

Describing  the  municipal  insurance  companies, 
Mr.  W.  H.  Dawson  says: 

"The  usual  method  of  operations  (in  municipal 
fire  insurance  societies)  is  for  the  town  to  form  a  com- 
pany for  the  purpose,  providing  all  the  necessary 
capital,  carrying  on  the  business  as  an  ordinary 
public  enterprise,  taking  all  risks,  and  receiving  all 
profits.  In  1910  the  total  value  of  property  insured 
in  public  insurance  enterprises  was  $18,905,000,000, 
of  which  $16,785,000,000  represented  immovable 
property.  The  year's  net  profits  were  $3,350,000 
and  the  accumulated  funds  stood  at  $63,320,000."  1 

Most  towns  maintain  pawn-shops  for  the  relief 
of  the  poor  in  times  of  distress.  These  banks  charge 
from  1  to  3  per  cent,  a  month,  depending  upon  the 
size  of  the  loan  and  the  security  offered.  They  are 
also  used  by  small  tradesmen  to  carry  over  unsea- 
sonable goods  or  to  otherwise  aid  them  in  the  trans- 
action of  their  business. 

The  municipal  savings-banks  are  of  great  aid  to 
the  cities  in  carrying  out  the  undertakings  in  which 
they  are  engaged.  They  finance  the  housing  and 
land  speculation  projects,  the  purchase  of  public- 
service  corporations,  and  the  like.  The  total  de- 
posits in  municipal  savings  institutions  in  55  large 
towns  in  1910  amounted  to  $850,000,000.  Mort- 

1  Dawson,  supra,  p.  252. 


MUNICIPAL  SOCIALISM  291 

gage  banks  to  aid  persons  of  small  means  in  the  pur- 
chase of  land  or  the  erection  of  homes  are  also  main- 
tained. Large  sums  have  been  set  aside  for  this 
purpose  in  recent  years.  Dresden  has  made  an  ap- 
propriation of  $2 1, 500,000  for  this  purpose,  Diissel- 
dorf  of  $10,000,000,  and  Aix-la-Chapelle  of  $5;- 
000,000. 

These  mortgage  banks  make  loans  on  first  mort- 
gages up  to  from  60  per  cent,  to  75  per  cent,  of  the 
value  of  the  property  at  rates  of  interest  ranging 
from  3J^  per  cent,  to  4J^  per  cent.  Second-mort- 
gage loans  are  also  made,  but  at  a  higher  rate  of 
interest.  In  order  to  take  advantage  of  municipal 
loans  house  owners  must  first  join  the  association 
and  make  a  deposit  of  $125.  After  a  year  they  are 
entitled  to  secure  a  loan.  Investigations  made  in 
1913  by  the  city  of  Munich  showed  that  223  munic- 
ipal savings-banks  had  loaned  money  to  the  amount 
of  $775,000,000  on  first  mortgages  at  a  rate  of  from 
4J^  per  cent,  to  4%  per  cent.1 

An  estimate  was  made  by  the  Imperial  Ministry 
of  Finance  in  1908  of  all  towns  and  rural  communities 
with  more  than  10,000  inhabitants  and  it  was  found 
that  the  total  receipts  from  undertakings  of  all 
kinds — those  carried  on  without  special  regard  for 
profit  as  well  as  those  conducted  upon  strictly  com- 
mercial principles — amounted  in  the  aggregate  to 
$126,750,000,  or  26  per  cent,  of  all  communal  re- 

1  Dawson,  supra,  p.  251. 


292  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

ceipts.  Industrial  services  are  generally  operated 
at  a  profit,  sometimes  a  very  substantial  profit, 
although  this  is  not  the  main  motive  of  operation. 
The  largest  contributions  to  the  city  treasury  came 
from  the  gas,  electric  works,  and  tramways. 

Substantial  relief  to  the  taxpayers  is  one  of  the 
gains  from  these  activities. 

"The  aggregate  profits  on  gas  works  available  in 
1910-1911  for  the  reduction  of  taxation  in  seventy- 
two  German  towns  with  50,000  inhabitants  or  more, 
were  $13,018,500.  .  .  .  Again  net  profits  available 
for  the  reduction  of  taxes  were  made  on  electricity 
works  in  1910-1911  by  seventy-two  German  towns 
with  50,000  inhabitants  or  more,  having  a  combined 
population  of  14,116,000  to  the  amount  of  $9,089,- 
500.  .  .  .  Taking  finally  the  profits  from  the  tram- 
ways available  for  the  relief  of  local  burdens,  the 
amount  yielded  in  1910  in  seventy-four  German 
towns  with  50,000  inhabitants  or  over  was  $3,- 
590,000." * 

The  total  amounts  received  as  profits  to  be  used 
for  the  relief  of  taxation  in  a  number  of  the  larger 
cities  in  1910  were  as  follows:  Berlin,  population 
2,071,800,  gas-works  $1,939,900,  water-works  $705,- 
100,  and  tramways  $42,750;  Breslau,  population 
512,100,  gas-works  $659,050,  electric-works  $310,500, 
water-works  $263,200;  Cologne,  population  516,500, 
gas-works  $328,650,  electric-works  $274,950,  water- 
works $283,850,  and  tramways  $292,400,  or  a  total 

1  Dawson,  supra,  p.  217. 


MUNICIPAL  SOCIALISM  293 

of  $1, 179,850.  Dresden,  population  548,300,  makes 
an  even  better  showing.  It  also  owns  all  of  its  public- 
service  utilities.  The  gas-works  earned  $782,000, 
electric-works  $400,250,  water-works  $45,650,  and 
tramways  $271,800,  or  a  total  of  $1,499,700.  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main  does  not  own  its  gas  service,  but 
the  electric-works  yielded  $725,400,  the  water-works 
$170,900,  and  the  tramways  $368,550.  Including 
the  royalties  from  the  gas-works,  the  net  receipts 
from  the  public-service  corporations  were  $1,426,- 
300  for  the  year.  Nuremberg,  population  333,200, 
owns  all  the  public  utilities,  and  received  (1910)  a 
total  contribution  for  the  relief  of  taxation  of  $61,700, 
while  Munich,  population  596,500,  which  also  owns 
all  its  public  utilities,  enjoyed  a  total  income  from 
these  sources  of  $1,110,100.  Taking  twelve  of  the 
larger  cities,  with  a  combined  population  of  7,464,- 
300,  it  appears  that  the  net  profits  amounted  to  $17,- 
107,300,  or  an  equivalent  of  $2.30  per  capita.1 

The  profits  referred  to  are  the  net  earnings  after 
all  payments  have  been  made  for  interest,  deprecia- 
tion, redemption  of  capital,  and  additions  to  re- 
newals and  reserve  funds.  The  profits  are  also  in- 
dependent of  any  payments  on  account  of  paving 
and  street  cleaning  and  local  taxes. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  policy  of  municipal 
socialism  the  indebtedness  of  the  average  German 
city  is  very  high,  but  as  an  offset  a  large  part  of  the 

1  Dawson,  supra,  p.  223. 


294 


SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 


indebtedness  is  for  undertakings  which  are  self-sup- 
porting and  involve  no  burden  to  taxpayers,  whereas 
the  indebtedness  of  the  average  American  city  is 
for  the  most  part  for  streets,  sewers,  parks,  schools, 
playgrounds,  and  fire  and  police  equipment,  which 
are  non-revenue  producing.  The  indebtedness  of 
the  German  cities  is  very  largely  of  a  profit-making 
sort. 

The  following  figures  of  seven  Prussian  cities  for 
the  year  1908  are  indicative  of  the  extent  to  which 
their  indebtedness  is  for  productive  undertakings. 
The  " productive  undertakings"  enumerated  include 
street  railway,  gas,  electric  light,  water,  harbors, 
baths,  etc.  The  "other  purposes"  are  schools, 
streets,  sewers,  and  all  non-productive  undertakings. 


TOWN 

POPULA- 
TION 

TOTAL 

DEBT 

FOR  PRODUC- 
TIVE UNDER- 
TAKINGS 

OTHER 

PURPOSES 

Berlin  

2,001,032 

$99,254,000 

$64,767,000 

$34,512,000 

Elberfeld.... 
Halle  
Solingen  
Magdeburg.  . 
Remscheid.  .  . 
Diisseldorf  .  .  . 

168,000 
176,798 
50,961 
247,358 
69,700 
284,439 

13,595,000 
9,500,000 
3,285,000 
15,005,000 
3,930,000 
28,585,000 

7,252,000 
2,877,000 
2,257,000 
7,775,000 
2,790,000 
22,260,000 

6,392,600 
4,612,000 
1,029,000 
7,503,900 
1,147,000 
6,327,000 

A  similar  table  of  the  indebtedness  of  seven  Amer- 
ican cities  shows  the  amount  as  well  as  the  distri- 
bution of  indebtedness  between  productive  and  un- 
productive agencies.1 

1  Financial  Statistics  of  Cities,  1909.     Bureau  of  the  Census. 


MUNICIPAL  SOCIALISM 


295 


TOWN 

POPULA- 
TION 1910 

INDEBTED- 
NESS 1909 

FOR  PRO- 
DUCTIVE 
PURPOSES 

FOR  OTHER 
PURPOSES 

Philadelphia- 
Cleveland  — 
Minneapolis.. 
Indianapolis.  . 
Denver  
Omaha 

1,526,383 
538,374 
294,330 
228,690 
207,112 
122,187 

$99,355,026 
37,304,908 
14,927,202 
4,790,401 
5,814,419 
8,598,997 

$30,776,642 
5,613,684 
1,933,424 
22,000 
329,200 

$68,578,384 
31,691,224 
12,993,778 
4,768,401 
5,485,219 

Grand  Rapids 

110,060 

3,184,612 

1,137,500 

2,047,112 

Herein  is  one  explanation  of  the  protest  against 
municipal  indebtedness  in  this  country.  Our  in- 
debtedness is  "dead"  indebtedness.  It  yields  no 
return.  It  is  a  burden  to  the  taxpayers.  And  it  is 
growing  rapidly.  The  German  city,  on  the  other 
hand,  has  no  fear  of  indebtedness,  for  it  is  usually 
represented  by  profit-making  properties.  It  is 
recognized  as  good  business  for  the  city  to  go  into 
debt,  especially  where  a  financial  return  may  reason- 
ably be  expected  from  the  investment,  either  im- 
mediatedly  or  in  the  future. 

Nowhere  is  Germany  seen  to  such  good  advantage 
as  in  the  city.  All  classes  have  a  pride  in  its  life, 
activities,  and  achievements;  they  contribute  will- 
ingly in  taxes  for  efficient  administration  and  seem 
to  appraise  the  returns  received  in  education,  com- 
fort, and  happiness,  and  to  be  content  with  the  in- 
vestment. Business  men  on  the  council  give  un- 
reservedly of  their  time  and  treat  the  trust  reposed 
in  them  as  a  high  honor  worthy  of  the  best  service 
they  can  render.  And  for  the  most  part  their 


296  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

actions  are  disinterested.  They  have  no  prejudice 
against  any  kind  of  undertaking  if  it  will  improve 
the  city  or  make  it  more  attractive  to  business, 
residents,  or  tourists.  Nor  do  they  hesitate  to  incur 
heavy  indebtedness  for  activities  which  will  yield 
returns  either  for  the  relief  of  taxation  or  the  better- 
ment of  the  community.  The  average  per-capita 
indebtedness  of  cities  of  over  200,000  people  is  $85, 
a  sum  far  in  excess  of  that  of  America.  Many 
cities  have  a  much  higher  debt.  Frankfort  carries  a 
municipal  indebtedness  of  $140  per  capita,  Munich 
$125,  Diisseldorf  $130,  and  Charlottenburg  $130. 
In  comparison  the  per-capita  debt  of  Chicago  is 
but  $43.90,  of  Cleveland  $69.29,  of  Detroit  $30.31, 
of  Washington  $44.84,  of  Milwaukee  $32.47,  of 
Philadelphia  $65.09.  In  this  alone  we  see  one  ex- 
planation of  the  difference  between  the  German 
city  and  our  own.  The  German  city  spends  gener- 
ously. Officials  treat  the  city  as  a  business  man  does 
his  business,  and  they  spend  accordingly. 

And  back  of  this  financial  and  social  policy  is  a 
different  conception  of  the  city  from  that  which 
prevails  in  other  countries,  and  especially  that  which 
prevails  in  America.  Our  conception  of  the  city 
is  that  it  is  a  police  agency.  It  is  this  and  little 
more.  Expenditures  and  activities  are  directed  to 
the  protection  of  business  and  the  safeguarding 
of  the  individual.  We  spend  generously  for  our 
police  and  fire  departments,  for  streets  and  sewers, 


MUNICIPAL  SOCIALISM  297 

for  schools,  and  to  an  increasing  extent  for  parks, 
playgrounds,  and  health.  But  the  idea  of  service 
is  as  yet  rudimentary.  We  have  consciously  re- 
frained from  entering  the  field  of  profit-making  ser- 
vice (except  in  the  case  of  the  water  and  electricity 
supply)  on  the  theory  that  this  was  not  a  proper 
sphere  of  public  activity. 

Germany  has  a  far  wider  vision  of  the  city.  The 
welfare  of  the  community,  of  all  the  people,  of  all 
business  rather  than  a  few  businesses,  is  the  standard 
by  which  a  proposal  is  measured. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
THE  BUILDING  OF  CITIES 

TOWN-PLANNING  is  another  achievement  born  of 
the  expert  and  of  state  socialism.  It  is  a  recognition 
of  the  permanency  of  the  city,  as  well  as  its  impor- 
tance. Town-planning  is  a  recent  art.  It  is  scarcely 
a  quarter  of  a  century  old.  And  during  these  years 
Germany  has  produced  the  most  wonderful  cities 
of  modern  times.  This  is  the  more  remarkable 
because  these  were  years  of  rapid  industrial  devel- 
opment in  which  we  would  have  expected  business 
interests  to  have  insisted  upon  the  utmost  freedom 
of  action  and  the  necessity  for  non-interference  on 
the  part  of  the  community.  Apparently,  however, 
it  was  a  recognition  of  the  dangers  incident  to  un- 
controlled development  that  led  to  the  control  of 
property  and  its  conscious  direction  by  the  city 
authorities  in  order  that  the  health  and  well-being 
of  the  people  should  be  protected.  Here  again  the 
German  city  reflects  the  far-sighted  statesmanship 
that  characterizes  the  empire;  a  statesmanship  that 
is  responsible  for  the  social  legislation,  education, 
and  state  socialism  which  are  so  closely  related  to 
the  development  of  the  state. 

Even  the  casual  traveller  remarks  on  the  differ- 

298 


THE  BUILDING  OF  CITIES  299 

ence  in  city  conditions  as  he  enters  Germany  from 
Holland,  Belgium,  France,  or  Austria.  Whether 
he  enters  at  Cologne,  Frankfort,  or  Munich,  or  comes 
by  sea  to  Hamburg  or  Bremen  a  new  type  of  city 
greets  the  eye.  As  he  leaves  the  railway  station, 
which  is  usually  one  of  the  most  commanding 
structures  in  the  city,  he  finds  everything  clean  and 
well  ordered;  the  streets  are  paved  with  the  best 
of  material  and  are  kept  in  splendid  repair.  There 
are  no  disfiguring  telegraph  wires  overhead  and 
few  obtrusive  signs  or  bill-boards  to  offend  the  eye. 
There  is  no  smoke  or  dirt,  while  a  uniform  building 
line  indicates  the  existence  of  municipal  by-laws 
for  the  control  of  buildings.  The  streets  are  fre- 
quently parked  before  the  houses,  which  are  often 
ornamented  with  window-boxes,  while  at  intervals 
small  parks  or  open  spaces  are  found,  beautified  with 
flowers  and  statuary.  Monumental  public  build- 
ings adorn  the  city,  usually  grouped  in  an  intelli- 
gent orderly  way,  while  round  about  the  city  are 
great  gardens,  parks,  or  woods  in  which  on  Sundays 
or  holidays  a  large  percentage  of  the  people  may 
be  seen  at  play.  Even  the  tenements,  which  are 
the  almost  universal  form  of  dwelling,  do  not  sug- 
gest the  ugly  squalor  of  the  English  or  American 
town,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  nearly  80  per  cent, 
of  the  urban  population  lives  amid  surroundings 
that  are  far  from  conducive  to  the  health  and  well- 
being  of  the  people. 


300  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

Apparently  nothing  is  left  to  chance.  Everything 
is  under  control.  The  city  suggests  a  conscious 
directing  intelligence  that  looks  out  from  the  Rath- 
haus  as  a  group  of  architects  might  plan  a  world's 
fair;  as  engineers  might  design  a  war-ship;  as  an  in- 
dividual erects  a  great  office-building.  Everything 
suggests  intelligence,  oversight,  and  the  application 
of  art  and  science  to  the  city's  building. 

The  German  city  is  planned  with  all  these  ends 
in  view.  Whereas  other  countries  have  left  the 
growth  of  the  city  to  the  unregulated  action  of  in- 
dividual initiative,  Germany  has  recognized  that 
the  civilization  of  to-day  is  a  city  civilization  and 
that  the  city  should  be  built  as  a  permanent  thing. 
Officials  realize  that  the  license  of  land  specula- 
tors, builders,  and  factory  owners  not  only  impairs 
the  beauty  of  the  city,  but  interferes  with  the  com- 
fort and  convenience  of  others  as  well. 

Town-planning  had  its  beginning  with  the  city- 
widening  projects  made  necessary  by  the  rapid 
urban  growth  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  when 
population  broke  over  the  lines  of  fortifications 
which  surrounded  the  old  towns  and  began  to 
spread  out  into  the  surrounding  country.  In  South 
Germany  and  especially  along  the  Rhine,  the  cities 
were  surrounded  with  walls  and  fortifications  which 
congested  population  within  very  narrow  quarters. 
In  addition  many  towns  like  Cologne,  Frankfort, 
Nuremberg,  Bremen,  and  Hamburg  had  been  capital 


THE  BUILDING  OF  CITIES  301 

cities,  or  rich  trading  centres  with  long  traditions 
of  municipal  pride  born  of  previous  independence 
or  notable  acheveiments.  The  streets  were  narrow 
and  crooked.  They  were  not  suited  to  modern  traffic 
or  the  building  of  street-railway  lines.  Streets  had 
to  be  widened,  beautiful  old  buildings  were  in  dan- 
ger of  impairment,  fine  vistas  might  be  destroyed. 
About  this  time,  too,  sanitary  precautions  began  to 
be  taken  to  protect  the  health  of  the  community, 
while  the  evils  of  bad  housing  began  to  appear.  To 
meet  the  needs  of  a  rapidly  growing  population 
builders  began  the  erection  of  tenements  differing 
but  little  from  the  overcrowded  lodgings  of  earlier 
times.  Land  speculators  laid  out  their  property  so 
as  to  secure  the  maximum  return  from  its  sale  with 
no  concern  for  the  comfort,  convenience,  or  well- 
being  of  the  community.  These  were  the  conditions 
which  confronted  municipal  authorities  in  the  early 
eighties.  Out  of  these  necessities  the  art  of  town- 
planning  had  its  birth. 

Town-planning,  or  Stddtebau,  has  now  become  a 
recognized  art.  A  number  of  universities  offer 
courses  of  study  on  the  subject  which  attract  stu- 
dents preparing  for  a  municipal  career.  Special 
courses  have  been  offered  in  Berlin  since  1907.  In 
Saxony  a  similar  department  has  existed  since  1910. 
In  1912  a  college  of  administration  was  opened  in 
Diisseldorf  with  courses  on  the  subject.  In  1910 
an  elaborate  town-planning  exposition  was  held  in 


302  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

Berlin,  and  two  years  later  a  similar  exposition  was 
held  in  Dlisseldorf .  A  large  literature  has  appeared 
upon  the  subject,  while  a  periodical,  Der  Stddtebau,  is 
published. 

The  attitude  of  the  average  town  is  indicated  by 
the  planning  announcement  of  the  city  of  Mann- 
heim, which  states  that  "every  town  in  course  of 
development  needs  to  its  extension  outward  a 
uniform  and  comprehensive  building  plan.  If  this 
plan  is  to  offer  a  foundation  for  the  art  of  town 
building  it  must  be  drawn  up  on  large  lines,  must 
anticipate  the  needs  of  a  distant  future,  and  pay 
due  regard  to  the  requirements  of  traffic,  hygiene, 
and  taste.  The  fulfilment  of  this  task  constitutes 
a  very  important  part  of  all  social  reform  in  our 
towns. " 1 

This  is  indicative  of  the  outlook  of  all  city  offi- 
cials and  statesmen.  Cities  like  Berlin,  Diisseldorf, 
Strasburg,  and  Munich  have  held  competitions  in 
which  town-planning  experts  from  all  over  the  em- 
pire competed.  Specifications  were  first  laid  down 
by  the  authorities  which  anticipated  the  future 
growth  of  the  city  for  years  to  come.  The  specifi- 
cations were  limited  to  the  development  of  specified 
territory  to  be  developed,  or  provided  for  a  plan  for 
the  entire  city  and  surrounding  territory.  Com- 
petitors were  asked  to  design  the  traffic  streets, 
boulevards,  parks,  and  open  spaces,  so  that  they 

1  Dawson,  supra,  p.  142. 


THE  BUILDING  OF  CITIES  303 

would  fit  into  the  existing  city  plan.  Provision  was 
to  be  made  for  steam  railways,  harbors,  and  indus- 
trial districts,  for  the  location  and  character  of  public 
buildings  and  schools,  as  well  as  hospitals,  cemeteries, 
and  other  public  needs.  With  these  specifications 
before  them,  plans  were  prepared  by  competitors 
upon  which  an  award  was  subsequently  made. 

In  other  instances  cities  employ  experts  who  pre- 
pare the  city-widening  projects  in  advance  of  build- 
ing. When  received,  the  plans  are  exhibited  for  pub- 
lic inspection  and  criticism  and  when  finally  approved 
they  become  binding  not  only  upon  the  community 
but  upon  private  builders  and  landowners  as  well. 

Underlying  all  city  plans  is  the  proper  arrange- 
ment of  streets.  This  is  the  foundation  of  the  city. 
It  is  elementary  to  any  city  plan.  Streets  are  recog- 
nized as  being  the  circulatory  system  of  the  city, 
too  important  to  be  left  to  the  narrow  commercial 
interests  of  private  landowners  or  speculators.  And 
the  modern  streets  in  the  German  city,  are  de- 
signed with  the  greatest  care.  They  are  adjusted 
to  the  uses  to  which  they  are  to  be  put.  They  are 
not  all  alike,  each  40  or  60  feet  wide  and  arranged 
according  to  the  rectangular  plan  so  common  in 
America.  An  effort  is  made  to  design  streets  for 
particular  needs  and  uses.  Certain  streets  should 
be  wide,  spacious,  and  park-like.  These  are  the 
main  arteries  of  traffic.  Such  streets  are  frequently 
from  150  to  200  feet  wide.  In  the  centre  is  a  parked 


304  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

space  with  gardens  to  be  used  for  pedestrians.  On 
either  side  are  the  street-car  tracks,  sodded  so  as 
to  keep  down  the  dirt  and  the  noise.  Outside  are 
the  traffic  thoroughfares.  These  are  the  main  ar- 
teries of  circulation.  They  usually  run  out  from 
the  centre  of  the  city  like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel  or 
form  the  boulevard  system  about  the  circumference 
of  the  city.  On  such  streets  builders  are  required  to 
set  their  houses  back  a  uniform  distance  from  the 
pavement.  Here  only  detached  houses  can  be  built, 
which  must  be  a  certain  distance  apart  and  must 
not  exceed  a  certain  height.  Less  prominent  streets 
are  narrower,  more  cosey  and  picturesque  in  their 
planning.  They  are  intended  for  residential  pur- 
poses. Frequently  they  are  crooked;  they  come  to 
a  dead  end  as  in  mediaeval  towns.  This  is  done  to 
discourage  traffic.  It  also  lends  quiet  and  charm. 

Other  districts  are  dedicated  to  industrial  uses. 
These  sections  are  not  arbitrarily  chosen,  they  are 
located  near  the  railways,  waterways,  or  harbors. 
Where  possible  they  are  selected  with  due  regard 
to  the  prevailing  winds  on  the  lee  side  of  the  town 
so  that  the  smoke  will  be  driven  from  the  city  rather 
than  across  it.  These  industrial  districts  are  also 
planned  with  respect  to  the  uses  to  which  they  are 
put. 

Similar  ordinances  are  enacted  to  control  builders 
with  the  aim  of  securing  architectural  harmony,  the 
proper  kind  and  location  of  houses,  the  prevention 


THE  BUILDING  OF  CITIES  305 

of  bad  housing  conditions,  and  the  protection  of 
the  whole  community  from  disfigurement.  These, 
with  the  planning  of  the  streets  and  the  restriction 
of  areas  to  specified  uses,  are  known  as  the  "  zoning 
system."  The  city  is  divided  into  districts  accord- 
ing to  its  proper  use.  In  each  zone  there  are  different 
limitations  as  to  the  amount  of  land  that  may  be 
built  upon,  the  amount  of  open  space  required,  the 
height  of  buildings  and  the  distance  they  must  be 
set  back  from  the  street.  The  building  plans  also 
indicate  the  kind  of  houses  that  may  be  erected, 
whether  villas  or  apartments.  The  individual  land- 
owner would  not  think  of  laying  out  his  property  for 
sale  without  first  consulting  the  city  plans. 

The  widening  plans  of  the  suburban  area  of  the 
city  of  Ulm  provide  that  17  per  cent,  of  the  land 
should  first  be  taken  for  streets,  that  13  per  cent, 
of  the  lot  area  should  be  reserved  for  back  gardens, 
and  50  per  cent,  for  front  gardens.  Only  20  per  cent, 
of  the  lot  area  may  be  covered  by  buildings.  The 
city  of  Mannheim  is  divided  into  three  building 
zones.  In  the  business  district  60  per  cent,  of  the 
land  may  be  covered  by  structures  which  must  not 
exceed  three  stories  in  height.  In  the  next  outer 
zone  50  per  cent,  of  the  lot  area  may  be  built  upon, 
while  the  structures  may  not  exceed  four  stories  in 
height.  In  the  outlying  sections  three  stories  is  the 
limit,  while  a  similar  percentage  of  the  land  may  be 
built  upon. 


306  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

Cologne  provides  that  only  75  per  cent,  of  the 
land  may  be  built  upon  in  the  business  section,  65 
per  cent,  in  the  next  two  outer  zones,  while  in  the 
suburban  residence  district  only  50  per  cent,  may  be 
covered.  In  the  business  district  of  Frankfort  75 
per  cent,  of  the  land  may  be  covered  by  buildings 
which  may  not  exceed  five  stories  or  more  than  65 
feet  in  height.  In  the  second  outer  zone  buildings 
may  be  four  stories  high,  but  never  higher  than  the 
width  of  the  street.  For  the  third  surburban  zone 
two  stories  is  the  limit. 

As  a  result  of  these  restrictions  architectural  har- 
mony is  insured.  There  are  no  sky-scrapers  or  apart- 
ment-houses close  beside  the  detached  dwelling. 
Nor  is  one  owner  permitted  to  build  close  to  the 
street-line,  while  his  neighbor,  more  thoughtful  of 
the  community,  places  his  house  back  from  the 
street.  All  houses  are  located  the  same  distance 
from  the  curb-line,  while  the  sky-line  is  uniform  and 
rarely  exceeds  the  width  of  the  street.  As  a  conse- 
quence the  newer  sections  of  the  German  city  pre- 
sent a  park-like  appearance;  they  have  something 
of  the  beauty  of  the  garden  cities  of  England.  All 
of  this  is  sanctioned  as  a  means  of  protecting  prop- 
erty. It  insures  to  the  home  builder  that  for  years 
to  come  his  property  will  be  protected  from  the  in- 
trusion of  business,  tenements,  or  other  objection- 
able structures. 

In  planning  new  territory  provision  is  made  for 


THE  BUILDING  OF  CITIES  307 

the  needs  of  the  city  as  a  whole.  At  frequent 
intervals  there  are  little  gardens  or  play  places 
which  are  designed  in  an  artistic  way.  Some  of  the 
gardens  are  sunken,  others  are  just  off  the  street- 
line  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  through  traffic. 
Sites  are  also  reserved  for  future  public  buildings, 
for  schools,  hospitals,  and  churches.  For  these  pur- 
poses cities  acquire  land  in  advance  of  their  needs 
at  very  little  cost  and  with  adequate  provision  for 
the  future. 

The  community  is  also  protected  by  ordinance 
from  signs  and  other  street  disfigurements.  Most  of 
the  public  announcements  are  placed  on  kiosks 
located  in  prominent  places  which  are  either  operated 
by  the  city  or  leased  out  to  private  individuals. 
Stations  and  tram-cars  are  frequently  free  from  ad- 
vertisements. The  power  to  legislate  against  such 
disfigurement  rests  in  an  old  law  of  Prussia  which 
provides  that  buildings  which  disfigure  the  appear- 
ance of  the  city  may  be  prohibited  under  the  police 
powers  of  the  city.  A  law  enacted  in  1907  carried 
this  principle  still  further  and  authorized  the  city 
to  refuse  its  permission  to  the  erection  of  any  build- 
ings that  would  unnecessarily  disfigure  streets  and 
public  places,  and  local  authorities  are  authorized 
to  adopt  by-laws  for  the  protection  of  the  archi- 
tectural appearance  of  leading  streets  or  ancient 
historical  places.  Under  these  by-laws  the  erection 
of  bill-boards  and  signs  depends  upon  police  per- 


308  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

mission,  but  before  permission  is  granted  the  opinion 
of   experts  or  the  municipal  authorities   must  be 
taken.1 
Commenting  on  these  regulations,  Mr.   Dawson 

says: 

"Many  Prussian  towns  have  gone  further  and 
have  established  special  municipal  offices  for  advice 
to  builders  and  architects  upon  matters  of  style 
and  taste.  No  charge  is  made  and  there  is  theoret- 
ically no  obligation  to  follow  the  advice  given  unless 
the  builder's  plans  infringe  upon  the  local  regulations, 
yet  the  good  offices  of  the  municipality  are  both 
freely  used  and  highly  valued.  The  municipality  of 
Baden-Baden  adds  rewards  to  advice,  for  it  gives 
premiums  every  year  to  architects  and  builders 
whose  erections  are  adjudged  to  comply  most  nearly 
with  certain  prescribed  conditions  as  to  artistic 
design  and  quality  of  materials,  and  best  harmonize 
with  the  general  architectural  scheme  of  the  town. 
By  the  adoption  of  these  and  similar  common-sense 
methods,  and  by  insisting  that  the  building,  like 
the  planning  of  the  town,  should  be  considered  as  a 
whole,  it  is  hoped  to  prevent  the  architectural 
anarchy  which  has  often  reigned  in  the  past,  and 
even  to  rectify  many  mistakes  which  have  been  in- 
herited from  times  when  the  building  speculator 
was  left  to  his  own  devices.  The  amenity  of  civic 
life  in  Germany  is  further  protected  by  a  law,  ap- 
plying to  the  whole  country,  providing  that  before 
industrial  or  trading  undertakings  which  would 
cause  injury  or  even  inconvenience  to  the  neighbor- 
ing residents  can  be  established,  the  consent  of  the 
higher  state  authorities  must  be  obtained.7'2 

1  Dawson,  supra,  p.  154.  2  Dawson,  supra,  p.  155. 


THE  BUILDING  OF  CITIES  309 

The  same  intelligent  provision  is  made  for  indus- 
try and  commerce  that  is  made  for  the  residence 
districts.  German  cities  vie  with  one  another, 
much  as  do  the  cities  of  America.  They  compete 
for  factories,  for  residences,  for  people.  And  as  an 
aid  in  this  competition  cities  make  provision  for 
factory  sites  and  transportation.  The  cities  of 
Mannheim,  Bremen,  Emden,  Frankfort-on-the- 
Main,  and  many  other  towns  have  purchased  large 
tracts  of  land  to  be  resold  to  industries  on  easy 
terms.  These  factory  areas  are  usually  selected 
close  by  the  railways  and  waterways,  and  are  ac- 
quired at  farm  prices.  Thereafter  streets  are  laid 
out,  transportation  connections  are  made,  and  the 
property  is  placed  upon  the  market. 

This  is  part  of  the  comprehensive  industrial  policy 
of  Germany,  a  policy  that  is  very  common. 

"The  inquiry  made  by  the  Central  Office  of  the 
Municipal  Congress  showed  that  nearly  half  of 
the  113  municipal  authorities  questioned  had  ac- 
quired land  for  industrial  purposes  and  had  sys- 
tematically offered  it  to  capitalists  on  advantageous 
conditions,  and  that  in  many  cases  their  land  was 
in  communication  with  the  municipal  docks.  It 
appeared  that  in  one  case  the  town  sold  land  at  half 
the  cost  price  solely  with  a  view  to  attracting  new 
industries,  while  in  others  mortgages  on  the  land 
sold  were  accepted  at  a  low  rate  of  interest.  "* 

One  of  the  most  elaborate  undertakings  of  this 
kind  is  that  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  a  city  of  414,- 

1  Dawson,  supra,  p.  241. 


310  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

000  people.  Some  years  ago  1,180  acres  of  land  on 
the  river  Main  was  purchased  at  agricultural 
prices,  which  has  subsequently  been  developed  into 
a  great  industrial  and  factory  centre.  In  con- 
nection with  the  project  a  great  harbor  was  laid 
out,  the  river  was  deepened,  and  connections  were 
made  with  the  state-owned  railways.  The  total 
cost  of  the  undertaking  is  estimated  at  $18,000,- 
000,  but  the  land  is  now  being  sold  and  leased  to 
builders  at  figures  which  are  expected  not  only  to 
entirely  reimburse  the  city  for  the  cost  of  the  land, 
but  for  the  cost  of  the  improvements  as  well. 

New  factories  are  not  permitted  to  go  where  they 
will.  They  are  required  by  law  to  locate  in  these 
new  industrial  sections.  Such  orders  are  not  made 
arbitrarily,  however,  nor  is  any  injustice  done  to 
landowners.  Factory  sections  are  chosen  by  reason 
of  natural  advantages;  they  are  close  by  the  rail- 
ways and  waterways,  and  are  supplied  with  switches, 
spurs,  and  sidings  which  reduce  the  cost  of  trans- 
portation to  a  minimum.  This  is  one  of  the  ways  by 
which  Germany  encourages  industry.  It  stimulates 
competition,  it  offers  a  free  play  to  enterprise  by 
preventing  private  control  of  the  means  of  trans- 
portation on  the  one  hand  and  by  offering  the  best 
of  sites  at  very  low  cost  on  the  other. 

In  proximity  to  the  factory  districts  land  is  laid 
out  for  working  men's  homes,  and  here  the  streets 
are  planned  with  this  object  in  view.  Parks,  play- 


THE  BUILDING  OF  CITIES  311 

grounds,  and  public  baths  are  usually  provided  in 
the  neighborhood,  while  the  means  of  transporta- 
tion are  frequently  adjusted  to  the  cheap  and  easy 
distribution  of  population. 

It  is  because  of  such  well-ordered  plans  that  the 
German  city  is  what  it  is.  Individualism  and  license 
are  controlled  in  the  public  interest,  while  private 
property  is  subordinated  to  the  public  weal.  Pres- 
ent speculative  profits  are  of  secondary  importance 
to  permanent  values.  Municipal  officials  build  cities 
as  the  naval  council  erects  dreadnaughts,  as  the 
minister  of  war  plans  his  campaigns. 

To  the  convenience  of  industry  and  the  comfort 
of  the  home  owner  and  the  tenant  is  added  the 
pride  of  the  city,  a  pride  expressed  in  commanding 
public  structures,  in  imposing  water-fronts,  beauti- 
ful parks  and  boulevards,  and  places  of  recreation. 
Diisseldorf,  a  city  of  350,000  people,  is  known  as  the 
"Garden  City  of  Germany."  It  has  spent  millions 
on  the  reclamation  of  its  Rhine  water-fronts,  in  the 
erection  of  a  great  exposition  hall  in  which  indus- 
trial, art,  and  municipal  exhibits  are  held,  in  the 
acquisition  of  land  and  the  laying  out  of  public 
places.  Nearly  every  Rhine  city  has  developed  its 
water-front  not  only  as  a  means  for  water  and  freight 
traffic  but  for  recreation  as  well.  The  embank- 
ments upon  the  river  frontage  are  terraced.  At 
the  bottom  are  landing  stages  for  water  craft;  on  the 
next  level  are  the  railway  tracks,  while  above  is  a 


312  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

broad  promenade  way  or  park  which  is  used  by  the 
whole  population.  Berlin  has  parked  its  canals, 
which  carry  the  most  diversified  commerce  and  has 
lined  them  with  shade-trees.  Dresden  stands  far 
above  the  river  Elbe,  upon  the  summits  of  whose 
banks  great  public  buildings  have  been  erected. 

Munich,  Leipsic,  Frankfort,  and  Dresden  have 
expended  immense  sums  in  the  erection  of  beauti- 
ful town  halls,  the  older  ones  suggesting  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  Middle  Ages  and  those  more  recently 
constructed  the  modern  architecture  of  Germany. 
Cities  own  splendid  opera-houses  and  theatres; 
many  have  zoological  and  palm  gardens,  while  within 
the  last  few  years  cities  have  erected  festival  halls 
which  are  the  favorite  places  of  resort  during  the 
summer  months. 

The  exhibition  halls  and  park  of  Munich  cost 
$4,250,000,  and  those  of  Frankfort  $1,500,000. 
They  are  used  for  industrial  expositions,  for  the 
display  of  local  art,  as  well  as  for  music,  theatrical 
performances,  and  other  purposes.  The  German 
cities  spend  generously  for  beauty  and  for  recreation, 
more  generously  than  any  cities  in  the  world.  All 
this  is  an  expression  not  only  of  the  affection  of  the 
people  for  their  city,  but  of  their  patriotism  and 
love  of  the  Fatherland  as  well. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

MUNICIPAL  LAND  OWNERSHIP  AND  HOUSING 
PROJECTS 

CLOSELY  related  to  town-planning  are  the  land 
and  housing  policies  adopted  by  the  cities  with  the 
sanction  of  the  state  governments.  During  the 
Middle  Ages  towns  and  villages  owned  consider- 
able tracts  of  common  land.  Some  of  this  was 
within  the  city  limits;  much  of  it  was  in  agricul- 
tural and  forest  land,  which  was  used  for  the  gather- 
ing of  fuel,  grazing,  and  agricultural  purposes. 
Common  ownership  of  land  by  public  authorities  is 
almost  universal  in  South  Germany,  some  of  the 
towns  owning  so  much  land  that  they  are  free  from 
local  taxes. 

In  recent  years  cities  have  enlarged  their  landed 
possessions.  They  have  been  instructed  to  do  so 
by  the  state  authorities  and  directed  to  refuse  to 
sell  their  holdings.  The  importance  of  land  to 
planning  and  housing  projects  has  been  fully  recog- 
nized, as  has  the  possibility  of  using  landed  posses- 
sions for  fiscal  purposes. 

Orders  or  decrees  have  been  issued  by  the  cen- 
tral authorities  of  Prussia  and  Saxony  pointing  out 

313 


314  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

the  far-reaching  importance  of  an  adequate  land 
policy  in  the  solution  of  the  housing  problem,  as 
well  as  in  the  control  of  land  speculation,  which  is 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most  serious  evils  in  modern 
city  conditions.  And  as  a  means  of  checking  specu- 
lation and  the  promotion  of  adequate  housing  facil- 
ities towns  are  urged  to  anticipate  their  growth  and 
acquire  surrounding  agricultural  land  in  advance 
of  the  city's  development.  The  minister  of  the 
interior  of  Saxony  has  advised  the  towns  "to  in- 
crease their  estates  betimes  to  the  extent  of  their 
power,  yet  to  retain  all  land  in  their  possession,  and 
only  to  sell  where  there  is  a  guarantee  that  no  specu- 
lation will  take  place."  When  sold,  public  land  is 
usually  subject  to  limitations  upon  the  buyer,  who 
is  prevented  from  speculating  on  his  purchase  or 
transferring  the  property  so  acquired  to  others. 
In  some  instances  the  town  reserves  the  right  to 
buy  back  the  land,  while  in  others  the  land  is  merely 
leased  to  the  occupier. 

Many  cities  have  engaged  in  large  land  schemes. 
Among  them  are  Mannheim,  Leipsic,  Charlotten- 
burg,  Breslau,  Halle,  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  Diisseldorf,  Duisburg,  Essen,  Elber- 
feld,  Ulm,  and  Strasburg.  The  city  of  Diisseldorf 
set  aside  a  fund  of  $5,750,000  with  which  to  buy 
and  sell  real  estate,  just  as  does  a  private  operator. 
The  city  frankly  stated  that  one  of  the  purposes  of 
this  policy  was  "to  restrain  the  unnatural  augmen- 


MUNICIPAL  LAND  OWNERSHIP  315 

tation  of  the  price  of  land."  In  addition  the  city 
owns  a  majority  of  the  stock  in  a  suburban  street 
railway  which  is  also  a  large  operator  in  land  specu- 
lation. By  this  means  it  keeps  down  the  price  of 
land  for  building  purposes  and  at  the  same  time 
shares  in  the  unearned  increment  of  land  values  due 
to  the  city's  growth. 

It  is  quite  customary  for  cities  to  buy  agricul- 
tural land  for  industrial  or  housing  purposes  in 
anticipation  of  the  laying  out  of  streets  or  trans- 
portation lines.  When  the  development  has  been 
determined  upon  the  land  is  systematically  planned, 
the  streets  are  laid  out,  reservations  are  made  for 
parks,  playgrounds,  and  sites  for  public  buildings, 
and  the  balance  of  the  land  is  either  sold  or  leased 
as  the  policy  of  the  city  dictates.  Special  induce- 
ments are  made  to  working  men,  the  land  being 
sold  at  a  low  price  and  on  long  terms,  the  money 
for  the  building  being  also  loaned  either  directly 
from  municipal  savings-banks  or  through  co-opera- 
tive societies  organized  to  promote  the  building  of 
working  men's  houses.  From  75  to  90  per  cent,  of 
the  cost  of  the  land  and  buildings  is  so  advanced 
by  the  municipality  at  a  rate  of  interest  of  from 
2J/£  to  4  per  cent.,  which  includes  the  amortization 
charges. 

Some  towns  claim  that  they  have  completely  elim- 
inated land  speculation.  The  ober-burgomaster  of 
Ulm  announced  at  a  meeting  that  that  city  now 


316  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

owns  four-fifths  of  the  entire  municipal  area,  and 
that  in  consequence  there  is  no  land  speculation. 
The  mayor  of  Saarbriicken  says  that  in  consequence 
of  the  land  policy  of  that  city  the  community  itself 
has  become  a  large  land  speculator. 

From  reports  made  in  1910  it  appears  that  cities 
own  from  20  to  80  per  cent,  of  their  entire  ad- 
ministrative areas,  not  including  roads,  streets,  and 
railways.  Among  these  cities  Freiburg,  in  Baden, 
owns  77.7  per  cent,  of  its  area;  Stettin  62.5  per  cent.; 
Heidelberg  61.1  per  cent.;  Coblenz  69.5  per  cent.; 
Augsburg  49  per  cent. ;  Mannheim  48.6  per  cent. ;  and 
Frankfort-on-the-Main  47.7  per  cent. 

Berlin  owns  5,450  acres  within  its  limits,  and  46,- 
899  acres  outside  of  its  limits.  Frankfort-on-the- 
Main  owns  a  total  of  15,522  acres;  Breslau  16,795 
acres;  Munich  12,792  acres;  Strasburg  11,464  acres; 
and  Stettin  15,972  acres.  A  number  of  cities  own 
estates  several  times  greater  than  their  adminis- 
trative areas.1 

During  the  twenty  years  from  1890  to  1909  the 
town  of  Konigsberg  increased  its  estates  by  3,000 
acres.  From  1891  to  1908  Munich  added  13,771 
acres.  In  the  former  city  about  one-half  of  the  land 
so  acquired  was  within  the  municipal  boundaries  and 
the  other  half  outside,  while  in  Munich  something 
over  one-third  of  the  land  acquired  was  within  the 
city,  while  two-thirds  were  outside  of  it. 

1  Dawson,  supra,  p.  125. 


MUNICIPAL  LAND  OWNERSHIP  317 

There  seems  to  be  no  limit  to  the  ambitions  of 
the  towns  in  this  direction.  Kiel  now  owns  a  large 
part  of  the  land  surrounding  the  city  which  is  let 
out  in  small  holdings  for  market  gardening,  with 
the  result  that  the  town  has  between  4,000  and 
5,000  tenants  from  whom  it  receives  a  substantial 
income  each  year.  Berlin  has  been  increasing  its 
municipal  estates  with  even  greater  rapidity  and 
recently  purchased  a  single  estate  of  15,000  acres 
at  a  cost  of  about  $5,000,000.  Part  of  this  land 
is  to  be  sold  or  leased  for  the  building  of  small 
homes,  but  the  greater  part  will  be  used  as  a  public 
park.  The  towns  of  Konigsberg  and  Ulm  have 
recently  acquired  the  fortifications  surrounding  the 
city  and  laid  them  off  as  parks  or  for  building  pur- 
poses. 

Much  of  the  land  so  acquired  by  the  cities  is 
kept  as  forest  land.  Of  the  total  of  35,000,000 
acres  of  forests  in  1900  the  various  states  owned 
over  11,000,000  acres,  while  the  towns  and  communes 
owned  5,645,000  acres  more.  One  town,  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Oder,  owns  15,570  acres  of  forest  land; 
Brandenburg  owns  11,220  acres;  Stettin  10,570 
acres;  Frankfort-on-the-Main  8,590  acres;  and  Wies- 
baden 4,750  acres;  while  many  small  towns  own 
estates  running  into  the  thousands  of  acres.  Most 
of  these  forests  are  operated  for  profit  on  scientific 
principles.  They  are  a  direct  source  of  revenue. 
In  other  instances  the  land  is  divided  up  for  culti- 


318  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

vation,  and  in  small  villages  is  apportioned  among 
the  citizens. 

Substantial  revenues  are  realized  by  the  cities 
from  their  land  holdings.  In  1912  Dlisseldorf  made  a 
profit  in  excess  of  $100,000  from  the  turnover  of  its 
municipal  land  fund.  Magdeburg  bought  land  for 
$1,500,000  and  sold  two-thirds  of  it  for  $6,500,000. 
The  land  department  of  Cologne  has  made  a  profit 
of  over  $3,000,000  in  thirty  years'  time  from  its 
land  transactions.  The  city  of  Ulm  recently  bought 
1,280  acres  for  $1,500,000,  and  subsequently  sold  one- 
half  of  it  for  $2,000,000,  showing  a  cash  profit  of 
$500,000,  and  an  addition  of  860  acres  to  the  landed 
possessions  of  the  town.1 

The  ownership  of  so  large  an  area  of  land,  fre- 
quently equal  to  one-half  of  the  total  area  of  the 
city,  makes  it  possible  for  the  community  to  carry 
out  its  building  and  planning  projects  in  a  far-seeing 
and  at  the  same  time  economical  way.  It  can 
direct  population  in  certain  directions;  streets  can 
be  planned  in  a  generous  way.  Spacious  sites  can 
be  provided  for  public  buildings,  while  adequate 
provision  can  be  made  for  parks  and  open  spaces. 
Through  the  ownership  of  advantageously  located 
land  the  city  can  offer  cheap  and  advantageous  sites 
to  factories,  planned  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  the 
best  of  railroad  and  transportation  facilities.  In 
addition  the  ambitious  housing  plans  which  the 

1  Dawson,  supra,  pp.  129-134. 


MUNICIPAL  LAND  OWNERSHIP  319 

German  cities  have  undertaken  can  be  carried  out 
with  such  restrictions  as  the  city  itself  sees  fit  to 
impose.  Moreover,  as  time  goes  on  the  land  ac- 
quired becomes  an  asset  of  very  great  value  to  the 
community.  It  is  claimed  that  the  sewage  farms 
acquired  by  the  city  of  Berlin  have  increased  so 
rapidly  in  value  that  their  sale  would  enable  the 
city  to  completely  liquidate  its  total  city  debt.  Un- 
doubtedly the  same  is  true  of  many  other  cities. 
Through  sales  and  leases  substantial  revenues  are 
derived,  which  are  used  to  keep  down  the  burden  of 
taxation,  while  the  increasing  revenues  from  forests 
and  agricultural  lands  are  a  source  of  substantial 
profit.  Emphasis  is  placed  by  all  public  author- 
ities upon  the  necessity  of  keeping  down  the  exor- 
bitant prices  of  land  speculators,  which  lead  to  bad 
housing,  high  rents,  and  overcrowding.  The  city 
becomes  an  active  competitor  against  private  land- 
owners and  house  builders,  and  in  this  way  serves 
as  a  check  upon  private  individuals  whose  specu- 
lative schemes  form  an  obstacle  to  the  development 
of  the  towns. 

Closely  related  to  the  land  policies  are  the  am- 
bitious housing  projects  which  have  been  entered 
on  by  most  of  the  larger  German  cities.  No  coun- 
try in  the  world  has  approached  the  housing  prob- 
lem as  earnestly  and  scientifically  as  has  Germany. 
Officials  recognize  that  private  capital  has  proven 
inadequate  to  meet  the  needs  of  a  rapidly  increas- 


320  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

ing  industrial  population,  and  that  only  through 
the  action  of  the  state  itself  will  proper  and  ade- 
quate housing  facilities  be  afforded.  Several  official 
policies  have  been  adopted  for  the  solution  of  the 
problem.  In  the  first  place  all  new  territory  opened 
up  for  building  is  planned  by  the  city  far  in  advance 
of  operations.  The  streets  are  designed  for  the  spe- 
cific uses  to  which  the  new  territory  is  to  be  put, 
while  regulations  determine  the  amount  of  land  that 
can  be  covered  by  buildings,  the  distance  they  must 
be  located  back  from  the  street,  as  well  as  their 
height  above  the  ground.  These  regulations  apply 
to  private  as  well  as  public  buildings.  Cities  have 
also  co-operated  in  the  erection  of  model  dwellings, 
either  by  building  houses  upon  municipal  land  or 
by  the  sale  of  land  to  building  societies  formed  for 
this  purpose.  When  land  is  sold  directly  to  working 
men  easy  terms  are  provided,  by  which  the  land  is 
paid  for  in  annual  installments,  which  include  not 
only  the  interest  charges  but  enough  to  pay  for  the 
whole  cost  of  the  house  and  lot  in  a  certain  specified 
time.1 

1  For  a  further  survey  of  the  housing  projects  of  German  cities,  see 
Municipal  Life  and  Government  in  Germany  by  W.  H.  Dawson,  chapter 
VII,  and  European  Cities  at  Work  by  the  author,  chapter  IX. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
THE  GERMAN  CONCEPTION  OF  THE  STATE 

GERMANY  presents  a  new  conception  of  the  state. 
It  has  no  counterpart  in  ancient  or  modern  times. 
No  other  people  think  in  the  same  terms,  no  other 
country  has  a  similar  psychology,  no  other  nation 
has  so  completely  subordinated  the  individual.  The 
Roman  Empire  in  the  height  of  its  power  is  the  only 
state  with  which  Germany  can  be  compared. 

" Fatherland"  signifies  many  things  to  the  Ger- 
man; it  has  many  other  meanings  than  patriotic 
attachment.  And  all  of  the  activities  described  in 
the  previous  chapters  form  part  of  German  Kultur 
as  the  Germans  use  the  term.  Kultur  is  not  lim- 
ited to  educational  and  aesthetic  things.  Kultur  in- 
cludes history  and  traditions,  politics,  statecraft,  and 
administration;  it  includes  state  socialism,  social 
legislation,  the  conservation  of  human  life,  and  the 
promotion  of  the  well-being  of  the  people.  All  of 
the  individual  and  collective  contributions  which 
Germany  has  made  to  the  world  form  part  of  Kultur 
as  the  German  understands  the  word.  These  con- 
tributions are  colossal.  And  they  are  largely  social. 
This  emphasis  on  human  welfare  is  one  of  the  re- 
markable things  about  the  German  idea  of  the  state. 

321 


322  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

Almost  all  of  the  achievements  enumerated  have 
been  brought  about  in  the  short  space  of  a  genera- 
tion. The  greatest  advance  is  coincident  with  the 
reign  of  William  II.  Bismarck  laid  the  foundations 
of  the  structure,  but  his  work  was  horizoned  by  the 
conditions  of  his  generation  and  the  unification  of 
the  empire.  It  remained  for  William  II  to  give  unity 
to  the  work  by  harmonizing  the  landed  aristocracy 
and  the  commercial  classes  with  humanism  in  legis- 
lation, and  by  calling  to  his  aid  the  scientific  thought 
of  the  nation  and  identifying  with  the  state  the  con- 
tributions of  the  universities  and  technical  schools, 
the  scientists  and  artists,  the  educators  and  the 
business  men. 

Unity  is  the  predominant  note  in  Germany.  The 
nation  thinks  and  acts  as  a  great  human  mechanism, 
adjusted  in  all  of  its  parts  to  efficiency  and  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  Fatherland.  An  ambition  for  im- 
perial power  seems  to  be  the  conscious  motive  of  the 
people.  No  group  has  been  permitted  to  sacrifice 
the  state  in  its  exclusive  control.  Each  class  has 
accepted  sacrifices  and  limitations  on  its  privileges 
when  the  national  welfare  was  at  stake. 

Legislation  has  been  balanced.  Rights  have  car- 
ried corresponding  duties,  and  privileges  a  corre- 
sponding burden.  To  the  old  patriotism  of  war 
has  been  added  a  new  patriotism  of  peace,  which 
has  created  a  public  sentiment  ready  to  assume 
burdens  and  sacrifices  for  the  common  weal.  While 


GERMAN  CONCEPTION  OF  THE  STATE      323 

legislating  for  production  Germany  has  legislated  for 
distribution  as  well.  While  promoting  industry  she 
has  promoted  the  well-being  of  the  people.  While 
training  her  men  to  arms  she  has  trained  them  as 
artisans,  and  while  granting  privileges  to  the  em- 
ploying class  she  has  required  them  to  share  in  the 
burdens  of  the  state,  to  relinquish  profitable  fields 
of  investment,  and  to  consider  the  welfare  of  the 
working  class. 

State  socialism  in  Germany  is  of  two  kinds:  first, 
productive  socialism,  and  second,  distributive  social- 
ism. One  means  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  wealth 
produced  and  the  other  its  juster  distribution.  Of 
the  two  the  latter  is  more  important.  If  we  increase 
the  amount  of  wealth  produced,  there  is  more  to  go 
around,  but  this  does  not  necessarily  improve  the 
well-being  of  those  who  produce,  and  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  while  the  general  standard  of  living  in  most 
industrial  countries  has  undoubtedly  advanced  dur- 
ing the  past  generation,  the  gain  to  the  great  major- 
ity of  the  people  is  far  behind  the  advance  that  has 
been  made  in  production  and  accumulation.  And 
up  to  the  present  time  the  efforts  of  lawmakers  has 
been  almost  exclusively  devoted  to  the  promotion  of 
production,  to  the  stimulation  of  invention,  to  the 
encouragement  of  industry  and  commerce.  The 
departments  of  the  government,  the  appropriations 
made,  the  kinds  of  activities  carried  on  have  behind 
them  the  desire  to  promote  the  well-being  of  the 


324  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

capitalist  and  privileged  class.  Outside  of  Germany, 
Denmark,  and  Switzerland,  there  has  been  but  little 
legislation  or  little  official  thought  to  the  more 
generous  distribution  of  the  gains  of  civilization. 

In  America  and  England  social  legislation  that 
looks  to  fundamental  reform  is  not  a  matter  of  pri- 
mary concern  to  statesmen.  It  is  but  little  studied 
in  the  universities.  It  has  awakened  no  philan- 
thropies or  endowments  for  research.  There  is  but 
little  legislation  that  has  for  its  object  economic 
justice  or  even  fundamental  change.  We  have  given 
protection  to  domestic  industry  from  foreign  com- 
petition, we  have  subsidized  the  railroads  by  land 
grants,  we  have  encouraged  agriculture,  but  in  so  far 
as  social  legislation  is  concerned  our  official  mind  is 
still  in  the  individualistic  stage.  Legislation  for  the 
promotion  of  production  has  proceeded  apace,  while 
legislation  for  the  individual  man,  for  the  worker, 
and  the  great  mass  of  the  people  has  remained  in  the 
Adam  Smith,  Ricardian  age.  Only  within  the  last 
few  years  has  there  been  any  sign  of  change. 

Germany  differs  from  other  leading  countries  in 
the  thought  that  has  been  given  to  the  distribution 
as  well  as  the  production  of  wealth.  And  no  other 
country  has  so  greatly  improved  the  well-being  of  so 
large  a  portion  of  the  people.  This  is  the  real  ex- 
planation of  her  power;  this  lies  back  of  her  military 
achievements;  this  explains  her  advance  in  trade, 
the  growth  in  her  overseas  commerce,  and  the  rise 


GERMAN  CONCEPTION  OF  THE  STATE      325 

of  her  merchant  marine  from  that  of  a  negligible 
position  to  that  of  the  second  maritime  power  of  the 
world. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  enumerate,  much  less  to 
translate  into  our  laissez-faire  consciousness,  all  of 
the  laws  and  administrative  decrees  that  have  been 
enacted  by  the  empire,  states,  and  cities  during  the 
past  generation.  Only  the  main  measures  stand  out 
in  relief.  But  at  every  turn  in  conversation  with 
business  men  and  workers  some  new  measure  is  dis- 
covered that  is  part  of  the  structure  that  has  made 
Germany  what  she  is. 

Let  us  first  consider  the  agencies  of  productive 
socialism,  which  are  designed  primarily  for  increasing 
the  wealth  of  the  empire.  Transportation,  which  is 
the  circulatory  system  of  the  nation,  is  organized  with 
the  most  painstaking  thought  to  realize  the  maxi- 
mum of  service  at  a  low  cost.  Seaport  and  river 
harbors,  navigable  rivers,  streams,  and  canals  have 
been  linked  up  with  the  railways  and  city  terminals 
so  as  to  reduce  waste  to  the  minimum.  Transporta- 
tion is  an  agency  of  industry  and  commerce.  Profit 
is  only  incidental.  It  has  been  made  easy  for  men 
to  enter  business.  Competition  has  been  freed  from 
as  many  risks  as  possible.  The  capitalist  is  offered 
good  building  sites  by  the  cities,  closely  connected 
with  the  means  of  transportation,  and  on  easy  terms. 
While  syndicates  have  come  into  existence  and  are 
encouraged  by  the  state,  they  are  not  permitted  to 


326  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

strangle  competition;  and  new  capital  is  assured  an 
opportunity  and  is  encouraged  to  enter  any  field. 

Germany  has  recognized  that  the  division  of  la- 
bor is  no  longer  confined  within  a  single  industry. 
Transportation  between  the  different  sections  of  the 
empire  is  almost  as  important  as  transportation 
within  the  individual  establishment.  And  Germany 
has  adjusted  her  transportation  system,  her  mer- 
chant marine,  and  her  credit  agencies  as  though  the 
state  and  the  outside  world  were  a  single  industrial 
organism. 

Rapidly  increasing  population  has  to  be  kept  at 
work.  Little  outlet  was  offered  by  the  colonies, 
which  have  not  been  a  success.  And  domestic  con- 
sumption has  not  kept  pace  with  the  growth  of  the 
output.  A  foreign  market  had  to  be  found.  This 
has  been  achieved  by  a  systematic  study  of  foreign 
desires  and  prejudices,  by  the  adjustment  of  wares  to 
foreign  wishes,  by  the  careful  training  of  clerks  and 
business  agents,  as  well  as  by  the  building  of  steam- 
ship lines  which  run  to  every  available  market.  The 
merchant  marine  as  well  as  the  foreign  commerce  of 
the  country  has  grown  rapidly. 

Industrial  and  commercial  processes  are  a  scien- 
tific study.  Education  has  been  adjusted  to  changing 
needs.  There  are  technical  universities  and  techni- 
cal high  schools.  In  every  large  city  are  institutions 
devoted  to  training  workers  in  industry,  applied  art, 
and  manual  dexterity.  Business  is  a  profession  for 


GERMAN  CONCEPTION  OF  THE  STATE      327 

which  men  are  specially  trained  in  commercial  col- 
leges of  high  rank.  Men  not  only  familiarize  them- 
selves with  foreign  languages;  they  spend  a  number 
of  years  of  early  life  in  England,  America,  and  in 
colonies,  acquainting  themselves  with  manufactur- 
ing details  and  the  wants  of  the  most  distant 
markets. 

The  European  war  has  promoted  the  process  of 
socialization  far  beyond  what  it  was  a  year  ago. 
When  the  war  is  over  there  will  undoubtedly  be  a 
great  increase  in  state  activity;  a  wide  expansion  of 
the  services  rendered  and  an  accelerated  movement 
toward  the  socialized  state  under  undemocratic 
forms.  There  will  be  an  expansion  of  public  credit 
at  low  rates  of  interest  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  in- 
dustry and  trade  of  the  nation.  New  industries  will 
be  taken  over  as  a  means  of  lightening  the  burdens 
of  taxation.  There  will  be  new  partnerships  be- 
tween the  state  and  the  syndicates,  so  arranged  as  to 
secure  the  co-operation  of  private  initiative  and  at 
the  same  time  realize  a  share  of  syndicate  profits. 
Germany  will  undoubtedly  emerge  from  the  wreck- 
age of  the  war  with  greater  rapidity  than  the  other 
nations  of  Europe  by  reason  of  her  ownership  of  so 
many  agencies  that  lie  at  the  life  of  the  nation  and 
particularly  by  virtue  of  her  long  training  in  co- 
operative socialized  effort. 

Distributive  socialism  is  closely  related  to  pro- 
ductive socialism.  By  distributive  socialism  I  mean 


328  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

services  performed  by  the  state  at  low  cost  or  no 
direct  cost  at  all.  In  other  countries  many  of  these 
services  are  either  not  performed  at  all  or  are  left 
to  commerce  to  be  exploited.  These  include  the 
many  non-profitable  undertakings  of  the  states  and 
cities,  the  provision  for  education  and  health,  and 
the  many  social  services  which  are  supported  by 
taxation.  First  in  the  list  of  such  activities  are  the 
social  insurance  schemes  which  distribute  to  the  com- 
munity the  burdens  of  sickness,  old  age,  accident, 
and  invalidity.  These  in  themselves  have  freed 
millions  of  men  and  women  from  fear  of  the  future, 
from  loss  of  self-respect,  and  have  kept  them  as  pro- 
ducing members  of  the  community. 

Distributive  socialism  has  provided  labor  ex- 
changes which  eliminate  much  of  the  waste  of  unem- 
ployment. It  has  erected  working  men's  hotels  or 
Herbergen  in  every  community,  to  which  the  wan- 
dering artisan  can  go.  Distress  or  emergency  work 
provided  by  the  cities  relieves  the  worker  during 
periods  of  industrial  disturbance,  just  as  does  the  pro- 
tection of  the  health  of  the  community  by  sanitation, 
by  the  community  doctor,  the  nurse,  the  pure-milk 
stations,  and  the  convalescent  homes.  Distributive 
socialism  receives  the  savings  of  the  poor  in  the 
municipal  savings-bank,  and  loans  the  deposits  back 
again  at  a  low  rate  of  interest  for  the  building  of 
working  men's  homes,  the  purchase  of  land,  and  the 
maintenance  of  pawn-shops  for  the  needy.  It  pro- 


GERMAN  CONCEPTION  OF  THE  STATE      329 

vides  municipal  houses  or  apartments,  or  develops 
garden  suburbs. 

But  distributive  socialism  does  not  end  with  the 
physical  well-being  of  the  working  classes,  it  makes 
provision  for  the  leisure  life  of  the  people  as  well. 
Cities  maintain  opera-houses  and  theatres  in  which 
the  best  of  productions  can  be  heard  at  a  low  cost. 
Through  these  the  cultural  standard  of  the  people 
is  elevated.  There  are  municipal  art  galleries  and 
museums.  Cities  maintain  colleges  and  academies, 
they  provide  lectures  and  entertainments.  Every 
city  of  any  size  has  its  orchestra  or  military  band 
which  give  excellent  concerts  in  the  parks  and  town 
halls.  The  leisure  life  of  Germany  is  under  state 
control  just  as  is  education.  This  is  an  important 
function  of  distributive  socialism. 

It  is  by  these  means  that  the  standard  of  living  of 
all  classes  has  been  improved.  Wages  have  risen,  it 
is  true,  but  the  war  on  poverty,  on  distress  and  dis- 
ease has  been  waged  by  the  generous  use  of  taxation 
and  the  distribution  to  the  poor  of  a  multitude  of 
services  which  in  many  other  countries  are  the  ex- 
clusive enjoyment  of  the  few. 

And  the  cost  of  these  services,  which  in  most  coun- 
tries is  shifted  onto  the  poor  through  indirect  cus- 
toms and  excise  taxes,  is  largely  borne  by  those  best 
able  to  bear  it.  Taxes  bear  not  only  on  property 
but  on  incomes  as  well.  The  rates  are  progressive, 
so  that  the  rich  and  well-to-do  pay  more  than  their 


330  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

proportional  share.  In  some  cities  the  income  tax 
on  the  very  rich  for  state  and  municipal  purposes 
rises  as  high  as  10  or  15  per  cent.  Cities  impose 
an  unearned  increment  tax  on  the  rising  value  of 
land,  and  frankly  insist  that  land  values  are  social 
in  character,  and  are  the  result  not  of  the  industry  of 
the  owner,  but  of  the  growth  of  population  and 
industry.  In  addition,  a  large  part  of  the  revenues 
of  the  empire,  the  individual  states,  and  cities  comes 
from  the  many  productive  undertakings  owned  by 
them.  Not  only  have  the  propertied  classes  been 
dispossessed  of  the  most  profitable  monopolistic 
undertakings,  but  tax  burdens  have  been  imposed 
that  in  America  would  be  considered  the  most  un- 
just of  class  legislation. 

Property,  business,  and  industry  are  regulated 
in  the  public  interest.  Factories  are  required  to 
build  where  the  community  decrees.  The  individual 
may  not  lay  out  his  land  as  suits  his  fancy  or  his 
profit,  he  must  lay  it  out  and  sell  it  for  such  purposes 
as  the  city  decides  for  him.  When  he  erects  his 
home  he  must  abide  by  the  ordinances  of  the  city 
as  to  the  kind  of  house  he  will  build,  the  amount  of 
land  it  will  cover,  as  well  as  the  height  and  character 
of  the  building.  This  is  but  part  of  the  comprehen- 
sive system  of  town-planning  that  views  the  city  as 
a  unit  rather  than  an  accidental  group  of  individual 
properties.  Even  banking  and  credit  are  largely  in 
public  hands.  Over  90  per  cent,  of  the  individual 


GERMAN  CONCEPTION  OF  THE  STATE      331 

deposits  are  in  public  institutions  while  the  govern- 
ment owns  a  controlling  interest  in  the  Imperial 
Bank,  and  through  its  ownership  supervises  and 
directs  the  credit  transactions  of  the  country. 

All  this  is  only  a  skeleton  of  the  industrial,  com- 
mercial, and  protective  agencies  that  constitute  pro- 
ductive and  distributive  socialism.  It  does  not  in- 
clude the  markets  and  slaughter-houses,  the  parcel 
post,  the  mines  and  estates,  the  forests,  and  the 
multitude  of  activities  that  are  owned  by  the  cities. 
But  it  suggests  the  German  idea  of  the  state,  an 
idea  willingly  accepted  by  all  classes.  This  is  state 
socialism,  approved  by  statesmen,  business  men,  the 
university,  and  public  opinion  generally.  It  explains 
the  efficiency  of  the  country,  not  only  in  peace  but  in 
war  as  well.  It  also  explains  the  psychology  of  Ger- 
many, and  especially  of  Prussia,  where  state  regi- 
mentation has  been  carried  to  its  greatest  develop- 
ment. And  within  these  social  regulations  a  nation 
of  67,000,000  people  moves  with  a  remarkable  degree 
of  individual  freedom.  Instead  of  stagnation  there 
are  initiation  and  aggression,  not  only  in  industry  and 
commerce  but  in  social  intercourse  as  well.  For  the 
state  draws  to  its  service  the  most  competent  men  of 
the  country.  There  is  a  desire  for  service,  for  un- 
remunerated  work  in  the  city  council,  on  commit- 
tees, in  connection  with  chambers  of  commerce,  and 
semipublic  bodies,  that  affects  all  classes.  And  by 
means  of  a  civil  service  that  weeds  out  all  but  the  fit. 


332  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

the  most  capable  men  of  the  universities  and  of  the 
professions  make  their  way  into  the  service  and  give 
their  best  to  the  state. 

It  should  not  be  inferred  that  there  are  no  faults 
in  the  system  described.  Paternalism  and  autoc- 
racy involve  costs  of  a  most  serious  character. 
They  are  political,  social,  and  personal.  They  are 
costs  to  the  individual.  And  as,  according  to  our 
conception  of  society,  the  state  exists  for  the  indi- 
vidual rather  than  the  individual  for  the  state,  they 
are  costs  to  the  state  as  well.  And  the  most  serious 
price  which  the  Germans  pay  for  an  autocratic  state 
is  caste,  a  caste  that  runs  through  the  very  fibre  of 
the  state.  Caste  is  found  everywhere.  And  it  is 
not  challenged  by  the  majority  of  the  people.  It  is 
assumed  that  the  individual  is  born  to  his  place  in 
society  and  that  only  in  exceptional  cases  may  he 
hope  to  rise  from  it.  That  is,  of  course,  most  true 
of  politics  which  is  in  the  hands  of  the  old  privileged 
classes  who  consider  that  they  have  an  almost  divine 
right  to  rule.  It  extends  even  to  the  cities,  where 
some  concessions  have  been  made  to  representative 
institutions. 

Caste  prevails  in  all  social  intercourse.  Official 
rank  carries  an  authority  and  distinction  not  to  be 
found  in  any  other  civilized  country.  This,  too,  is 
part  of  the  bureaucratic  idea  of  the  state.  It 
strengthens  the  ruling  caste  to  identify  with  itself  a 
large  number  of  people. 

Caste  rules  in  education.    This  is  possibly  the 


GERMAN  CONCEPTION  OF  THE  STATE      333 

most  serious  criticism  that  can  be  made  against  the 
educational  system  of  Germany.  It  affects  the  uni- 
versities in  which  conformity  is  the  open  door  to 
advancement.  This  destroys  criticism,  it  censors 
the  intellectuals,  it  identifies  the  entire  scientific 
world  with  the  state,  and  the  state  as  interpreted  by 
the  ruling  caste.  This  is  a  fault,  unhappily,  of  higher 
educational  institutions  in  other  countries,  but  no- 
where is  the  intellectual  and  scientific  world  so 
frankly  and  officially  identified  with  the  state  as  in 
Germany.  The  same  is  true  of  the  church  which  is 
a  state  institution. 

Elementary,  secondary,  and  technical  education 
partakes  of  the  same  caste  system,  the  same  state 
control.  The  individual  child  is  educated  for  the 
station  in  life  to  which  he  is  born.  Schools  are  classi- 
fied accordingly.  The  choice  once  made  is  in  the 
majority  of  instances  irrevocable.  Moreover,  all 
education,  elementary,  secondary,  and  higher,  is 
pyramided  to  a  central  control.  There  is  state  and 
for  the  most  part  imperial  uniformity.  Localities 
are  not  permitted  to  experiment  as  they  do  in 
America;  the  local  school  board  is  not  autonomous 
as  it  is  with  us.  The  child  is  moulded  by  the  state, 
to  the  state's  idea  of  what  is  best  for  the  state,  and 
only  incidentally  what  is  best  for  the  child.  There 
is  uniformity  rather  than  variety,  and  in  consequence 
that  initiative  so  characteristic  of  America  is  almost 
wholly  lacking  in  the  average  child. 

Prussia  has  ironed  out  personal  individuality  by 


334  SOCIALIZED  GERMANY 

the  educational  system  described.  She  has  also 
ironed  out  much  of  the  individuality  of  the  states, 
an  individuality  that  made  the  Germany  of  fifty 
years  ago  what  she  was  to  the  world.  And  this  is  a 
terrible  loss,  as  is  any  system  that  fails  to  awaken 
and  keep  alive  the  spontaneity  and  resourcefulness 
of  the  people. 

But  these  sacrifices  are  not  a  necessary  part  of 
state  socialism.  The  institutions  which  Germany 
has  developed,  and  the  efficiency  that  has  been 
achieved  are  in  no  way  inconsistent  with  democracy. 
They  are  rather  the  consciously  desired  ends  of  the 
ruling  class,  which  seeks  submission  rather  than  pro- 
test, and  subordination  to  the  state  rather  than  ser- 
vice of  the  state  to  the  people. 

There  is  nothing  democratic  in  the  German  idea 
of  the  state.  The  measures  enumerated  have  not 
been  carried  through  by  the  Social  Democratic  party, 
although  it  has  undoubtedly  been  indirectly  responsi- 
ble for  much  of  the  public  opinion  that  sanctioned 
them.  There  was  nothing  like  a  referendum  to  as- 
certain public  opinion.  Nowhere  in  German  state- 
craft is  there  any  belief  in  democracy  or  representa- 
tive institutions  or  in  manhood  suffrage.  Even  in 
the  more  Democratic  states  of  the  south  the  suf- 
frage is  limited  by  property  qualifications. 

State  socialism  is  a  natural  outgrowth  of  feudalism. 
It  has  its  roots  far  back  in  German  traditions  and 
the  experiences  of  the  people.  It  is  the  eighteenth- 


GERMAN  CONCEPTION  OF  THE  STATE      335 

century  state  adjusted  to  twentieth-century  condi- 
tions. And  it  has  largely  made  Germany  what  she 
is,  a  menace  and  a  model,  a  problem  to  statesmen 
of  other  countries,  and  a  pathfinder  in  social  reform. 


INDEX 


Accident  insurance,  benefits,  195, 
196 

Administration,  German  cities, 
267 

Administrative  agencies,  Ger- 
man cities,  269 

Administrative  control,  German 
cities,  272 

Agriculture,  57;  scientific  meth- 
ods in,  58 

Architectural  restrictions,  306 

Artisans',  German,  hours  of 
work,  202 

Ashley,  W.  J.,  199 


B 


Ballot,  open,  41 

Barmen,  vocational  education 
in,  238 

Baths,  public,  255 

Beet-sugar  industry,  60 

Benefits,  accident  insurance,  196 

Berlin,  water  traffic  of,  125; 
Stettin  Canal,  126;  system  of 
street  sewerage,  254 

Birth-rate,  Germany,  55 

Bismarck,  15;  constructive  legis- 
lation, 54;  socialized  legisla- 
tion, 162;  old-age  pensions, 
166;  attitude  toward  social 
insurance,  193 

Bremen,  free  port  of,  127 

Burgomasters,  position  of,  271; 
qualifications  of,  273;  salaries 
of,  276 


Business  classes  in  Germany,  at- 
titude toward  state  socialism, 
168 

By-products  developed  by  Ger- 
many, 63 


Canals,  123-125 

Caste,  44,  332 

Cemeteries,  253 

Chancellor,  29;  powers  of,  30 

Cities,  electoral  system  in,  47; 
population  in,  52,  56,  266; 
socialism  in,  85;  regulation  by 
state,  86;  administration  of, 
267;  administrative  agencies, 
269;  administrative  control  of, 
272;  power  of  king  over,  272; 
sale  of  food  by,  288;  indebted- 
ness of  German  and  American, 
293,  295 

Civil  service,  21,  88;  employees 
in,  92 

Class  rule  in  Germany,  37 

Coal  and  coke,  68 

Coal  mines,  nationalization  of, 
152 

Colonial  expansion,  72 

Commerce,  German,  overseas, 
69;  influence  of  education  on, 
246 

Compensation  insurance,  197 

Conception  of  state,  German,  82, 
296,  321 

Constitution,  Germany,  13,  26 

Consumption,  standard  articles, 
74 


337 


338 


INDEX 


Continuation  schools,  231.     See 

also  Vocational  education 
Cremation,  employment  of,  253 


D 


Death-rate,  tuberculosis,  261 

Democracy,  fear  of,  in  Germany, 
282;  little  of,  in  Germany,  334 

Dental  clinics,  school-children, 
227 

Discipline,  German  education, 
217 

Distress  work,  179 

Distribution  of  wealth,  German 
thought  on,  324 

Distributive  socialism,  324 

District  or  zone  system,  304 

Division  of  labor,  326 

Duality,  German,  12 

Dusseldorf,  135,  275,  311;  har- 
bor administration  of,  136; 
industrial  section,  135 


E 


East  Prussia,  38 

Education,  Germany,  17;  higher, 
18,  208-210;  among  workers, 
205;  influence  of,  on  German 
industry,  212;  prized  by  all 
classes,  213;  faults  of,  213; 
elementary,  220;  compared 
with  United  States,  220;  prac- 
tical nature  of  elementary, 
221;  administration  of,  224; 
state  control  of,  225;  influence 
of  German,  230;  vocational, 
223,  231-240;  influence  of,  on 
German  commerce,  246.  See 
also  Special  schools,  Technical 
schools,  Universities 

Electoral  system,  30,  40,  42; 
Prussian,  41;  in  cities,  47; 
three-class  system,  47,  269 

Emergency  work,  179 

Employees,  civil  services,  92 


Employment,  attitude  toward, 
172;  exchanges,  172 

England,  laissez-faire  in,  80; 
wealth  in,  53 

European  war,  effect  on  social- 
ism, 327 

Expansion,  colonial,  72 

Experiment  stations,  farms,  148 

Explanation  of  Germany,  9 

Exports,  Germany,  65;  machin- 
ery, 68 


Factories,  control  of,  310 

Farms,  experiment  stations,  148 

Feeding  school-children,  228 

Feudal  state,  31 

Feudal  system,  146 

Feudalism  in  Germany,  10 

Food,  inspection  of,  253;  sale  of, 
by  cities,  288 

Foreign  trade,  68 

Forests,  German,  149,  317;  own- 
ership of,  148;  earnings  of,  150 

France,  war  with,  25 

Frankfort-on-Main,  310 

Free  ports,  127;  Bremen,  Ham- 
burg, Liibeck,  127 

French  Revolution,  12 


German  conception  of  state,  321 
German  constitution,  13,  26 
Germany,  explanation  of,  9;  con- 
solidation of,  24 
Grammar,  working-men's,  206 


H 


Hamburg,  free  port  of,  127;  vo- 
cational education  in,  232 

Harbors,  134-136;  Dusseldorf, 
136;  Mannheim,  141 

Health,  of  school-children,  227; 
in  Prussia,  250 

Help  schools,  223 


INDEX 


339 


Herbergen,  177 

High  schools,  218 

Higher  education,  German,  18, 

208-210 
Home  rule,  267 
Hospitals,  Germany,  252 
Hours  of  work,  German  artisans', 

202 
House  owners,  influence  of,  hi 

town  council,  269 


Illiteracy,  Germany,  215 

Income  taxes,  increasing  wealth 
of  people,  75 

Indebtedness,  German  cities, 
293;  American  cities,  295 

Industrial  courts,  188 

Industrial  progress,  Germany,  66 

Industrial  revolution,  Germany, 
14 

Industrial  schools,  212 

Industrial  sections,  50,  135,  309 

Industry,  science  in,  64;  influ- 
ence of  education  on,  in  Ger- 
many, 212 

Infant  mortality,  warfare  on,  179 

Inspection  of  food,  253 

Insurance,  state,  91;  social, 
192-200;  compensation,  197; 
amount  of  payments,  199; 
invalid,  262 

Insurance  funds,  administration 
of,  195 

Insurance  laws,  social,  170 

Invalid  insurance,  relation  to 
tuberculosis,  262 


Junker,  33,  44;  power  of,  32,  36 
Junkerism,  39 

K 

Kaiser  Wilhelm  II,  15;  personal- 
ity of,  22;  ascendancy  of,  28 


Kerschensteiner,  Doctor  Georg, 

216 
King,  powers  of,  26;  power  of, 

over  cities,  272 
Krupp  works,  66 
Kultur,  Germany,  321;  German 

idea  of,  4 


Labor  courts,  182 
Laissez-faire,    hi    England,    hi 

America,  80;  German  attitude 

toward,  165 
Land  monopoly,  37 
Landownership,  313;   effect  of, 

43 

Land  speculation,  314 
Lawyers,   discouraged  in  labor 

courts,  185 
Legislation  for  working  classes, 

164 

Live-stock  industry,  61 
Lodging-houses,   municipal,  176 
Liibeck,  127 

M 

Machinery,  exports,  68 

Magdeburg,  vocational  educa- 
tion in,  238 

Magistrat,  276 

Mannheim,  137;  harbor  of,  141 

Manufactures,  33 

Markets,  288 

Merchant  marine,  70 

Milk  supply,  288 

Mineral  resources,  61 ;  state  con- 
trol of,  151 

Mining  properties,  Prussia,  147 

Mississippi  River,  144 

Monarchical  socialism,  theory 
of,  83 

Monopoly,  German  attitude  to- 
ward, 158 

Munich,  vocational  schools  in, 
223,  232,  240 


340 


INDEX 


Municipal  ownership,  Germany, 
extent  of,  283;  profits  of,  292 
Municipal  socialism,  280 
Music,  in  public  recreation,  180 

N 

Nationalization,   sentiment  for, 
152 


Obedience,  19 
Oil  monopoly,  160 
Old-age  insurance,  197,  198;  Bis- 
marck's attitude  toward,  166 
Overseas  commerce,  69 


Partnership,,  state  and  private 
industry,  156 

Payments,  amount  of  insurance, 
199 

Physical  culture,  228 

Pig-iron  production,  62 

Playgrounds,  256 

Political  activities,  socialized, 
204 

Political  parties,  33;  in  Reich- 
stag, 33 

Population,  urban,  52,  56,  266; 
increase  of,  54 

Ports,  free,  127 

Post-office  department,  90 

Potash  industry,  153 

Potash  syndicate,  153 

Profits  of  state  socialism,  92 

Prohibition,  movement  for, 
among  workers,  207 

Property,  control  of,  330 

Protective  tariff,  60 

Prussia,  health  in,  250 

Psychology,  German,  20;  influ- 
ence of  state  socialism  on,  21 

Public  ownership,  146;  effect  of, 
on  people,  22 

Public  recreation,  180 


Public-service  corporations,  own- 
ership of,  284;  profits,  284 


R 

Railways,  state-owned,  95;  early 
experience  with,  95;  privately 
operated,  96;  purchase  of,  by 
state,  97;  present  mileage,  97; 
efficiency  of,  97;  Prussian,  98; 
financial  success  of,  98;  serv- 
ice, 103;  industrial,  104;  Eng- 
lish opinions  of,  104;  stations, 
Germany,  105;  rebates,  106, 
108;  discriminations,  106;  ex- 
port trade  fostered,  107;  spe- 
cial services,  110;  improve- 
ments, 110;  civil  service  in, 
111;  electrification  of,  112; 
passenger  fares,  112;  freight 
rates,  113;  burden,  113;  ad- 
ministration, 115;  politics  di- 
vorced from,  119 

Recreation,  public,  180;  subsi- 
dies for,  180 

Reichstag,  28;  membership,  par- 
ties in,  33,  35;  power  of  mem- 
bers, 36 

Rhine,  harbors  of,  134;  traffic 
on,  139 

Ruling  classes,  11 


S 


Sanatoria,  tuberculosis,  259 
Sanitation,  248;  control  of,  249 
Savings-bank  deposits,  74 
Schmoller,  Provisor,  159 
Schools.     See  Education 
Science,  in  industry,  64;  in  agri- 
culture, 58 
Scientific  methods,   agriculture, 

58 

Sickness  insurance,  194 
Slaughter-houses,  Germany,  287 
Social  insurance,  192 ;  Bismarck's 
attitude  toward,  193;  sickness 


INDEX 


341 


insurance,  194;  administra- 
tion of  funds,  195;  accident 
insurance,  195;  attitude  of 
employers,  196;  benefits,  198; 
compensation  paid,  197;  old- 
age  insurance,  197;  number  of 
persons  insured,  198;  pay- 
ments, amount  of,  199;  effect 
of  insurance  on  worker,  200 

Social  legislation,  85;  Bismarck 
and,  162;  in  America,  324 

Socialism,  monarchical,  theory 
of,  83;  in  cities,  85;  distribu- 
tive, 324;  effect  of  European 
war  on,  327 

Socialist  party,  vote  of,  203 

Soil,  Germany,  59 

South  Germany,  48 

Special  schools,  210 

Standard  of  living,  76 

State,  German  conception  of,  82, 
164,  296,  321;  partnership 
with  private  industry,  156;  at- 
titude toward  working  classes, 
201 

State  control,  mineral  resources, 
151;  over  cities,  86;  in  educa- 
tion, 225 

State  insurance,  91 

State  socialism,  influence  of,  on 
psychology,  21;  extent  of,  89; 
Prussian  tradition  of,  163;  at- 
titude of  business  classes  to- 
ward, 168,  323 

Steam-power  in  Prussia,  63 

Stein  and  Hardenberg,  38 

Stettin  Canal,  126 

Street  scavenging,  255 

Streets,  arrangement  of,  303. 
See  Town  planning 

Subsidies,  recreation,  180 

System  of  treating  sewerage, 
Berlin,  254 


Tariff,  60 
Taxation,  75,  329 


Teachers,  preparation  of,  217; 
training  of,  226 

Technical  high  schools,  210 

Three-class  electoral  system,  47, 
269 

Town  council,  269;  influence  of 
house  owners  in,  269 

Town  planning,  298;  beginning 
of,  300;  streets,  arrangement 
of,  303;  districts,  or  zone 
system,  304;  widening,  city 
planned  for,  305;  architec- 
tural restrictions,  306;  street 
disfigurements,  307;  indus- 
trial districts,  309 

Trade,  foreign,  68 

Tradition,  German,  87;  of  state 
socialism  in  Prussia,  163 

Treaties,  73 

Tuberculosis,  war  upon,  285 ;  san- 
atoria, 259;  death-rate,  261; 
relation  of  invalidity  insurance 
to,  262 


U 


Urban  population,  52,  56,  266 
United  States  of  America,  ele- 
mentary education  in,  220 
Universities,  German,  18,  208; 
attendance  at,  208;  effect  on 
students,  219 


Vocational  education,  231;  hi 
Munich,  223,  232,  240;  Ham- 
burg, 232;  Magdeburg,  238; 
Barmen,  238;  Frankfort-on- 
Main,  240 

Voting,  three-class  system,  47 

W 

Wages,  increase  of,  77 
Waste,  German  attitude  toward, 
161 


342 


INDEX 


Water-power,  Germany,  64 
Waterways,  development  of,  121; 
tonnage  of,  122;  waterway 
programme,  Germany,  122; 
canals,  123;  construction  of, 
124;  traffic  on,  125;  free  ports, 
127 

Wealth,  Germany,  53;  of  Eng- 
land, 53;  increase  of,  in  Ger- 
many,  73 


Wilhelm  II,  15;  personality  of, 
22;  ascendancy  of,  28 

Workers,  attitude  of .  state  to- 
ward, 162;  effect  of  insurance 
laws  on,  200 

Working  classes,  legislation  for, 
164;  attitude  of  state  toward, 
201;  education  among,  205; 
grammar,  206;  movement  for 
prohibition  among,  207 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


Mil  9.  -  f9sc  y 

H«2ra*«aO 

SEP  2  7  1992 
170  DISC  CIRC    AUGU-S 

2 

1 

LD  21A-60m-10,'65 
(F7763slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


YG  89907 
U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


CD070S20bl 


"il'H 


HN    HM5" 
HI 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


